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LABOUR was slammed today by MP Apsana Begum over its treatment of her as a domestic abuse survivor and Britain’s only hijab-wearing MP.
“I am still waiting for the outcome of a Labour Party process in which I have engaged in good faith over two and a half years regarding my ex-husband,” she said in a statement, adding that she had been told to expect the final outcome over a month ago.
“The ongoing harassment, the brutal vexatious eight-day trial in 2021 and the illegitimate trigger process conducted while I was certified off sick in 2022 are unjust, undemocratic and unacceptable.”
Ms Begum was acquitted of allegations of obtaining social housing by fraud in a case promoted by political rivals in Tower Hamlets.
As a working-class female Muslim MP, she has faced sustained harassment which has affected her health and, despite being a victim of domestic abuse, has received no support from Labour under Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.
Instead, the party apparatus has been accused of trying to secure her deselection as MP for Poplar and Limehouse.
She is on the left of the party and has been a critic of the leadership’s stance on the Gaza crisis.
“I note the unresolved issues regarding the treatment of black and Asian people within the Labour Party, as set out by the Forde Report,” she said today, alluding to suggestions that Labour is indifferent to Islamophobia.
“The way in which I continue to be treated as a survivor of domestic abuse and the UK’s first and only hijab-wearing MP cannot continue.”
Labour was approached for comment.