7 days ago
Peer in Manchester airport row wrongly accused police of Islamophobia
A peer embroiled in a row over the Manchester Airport attack wrongly accused a police force of Islamophobia, it has emerged.
Baroness Shaista Gohir, who is advising ministers on the definition of Islamophobia, shared a video purportedly of Humberside Police detaining a British Muslim man in 2019.
Six police officers were shown to be involved in arresting the man, with one appearing to repeatedly strike him on the head.
Lady Gohir, the chief executive of the Muslim Women's Network UK, accused the force of 'racism' and 'Islamophobia', claiming the video showed a 'disgraceful' and 'unnecessary use of excessive violence'.
It later emerged the peer had named the wrong police force involved in the incident, and the officers involved – from West Midlands Police – were later cleared of wrongdoing.
She is one of five appointees to the working group seeking to define Islamophobia for the Government.
Ministers have faced criticism amid concerns that the current proposals to define Islamophobia could have a 'chilling effect' on free speech.
The communities department, headed by Angela Rayner, has insisted the group is independent and will provide 'evidence-based advice' to ministers.
It comes after Lady Gohir was criticised last month after condemning the police for their conduct at Manchester Airport last summer.
Mohammed Fahir Amaaz, 20, was convicted of punching Pc Lydia Ward in the face, causing a broken nose, and also of assaulting Pc Ellie Cook.
In a statement two days after viral footage of the incident appeared online, Lady Gohir compared the Manchester Airport incident to the murder of George Floyd in 2020.
She also condemned the action taken by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) as 'police brutality', but last month said she welcomed the conviction of Amaaz and had never defended his actions.
Robert Jenrick, the Tory shadow justice secretary, demanded that Lady Gohir be removed from the Government's working group on defining Islamophobia.
He said: 'Baroness Gohir should be kicked off the working group immediately. Time and again her kneejerk reaction is to smear others as Islamophobic without knowing the full details.
'The fact that someone with her track record is working behind the scenes on this issue shows the whole process is a shambles.'
Lady Gohir claimed that critics are conducting 'smear campaigns and misinformation to stop the vital task of the Working Group on a definition of anti-Muslim hatred/Islamophobia'.
In 2019, the peer reposted a tweet of a video from an anti-Islamophobia activist who claimed that the video showed six members of Humberside Police detaining a Muslim man, and that the officers had been suspended for their conduct.
The peer shared the video and wrote: 'Another day of #racism #islamophobia. This time at @Humberbeat [Humberside Police] – Disgraceful & unnecessary use of excessive violence.
'Why hit him on the head? He wasn't resisting arrest! Why shut the door? Without footage police would have got away with it. No one would have believed [the] victim.'
Humberside Police were forced to issue a statement to say it was not their officers in the video. It later emerged it was footage of an arrest made by West Midlands Police.
After a referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct, West Midlands Police were deemed to have used 'necessary and proportionate' force in restraining the man.
It found the footage was 'not wholly representative of the incident' and found no evidence for lawyers' claims that the man had been discriminated against due to his race.
Last year, Lady Gohir accused Richard Tice, Reform UK's deputy leader, of 'applauding' police brutality in remarks 'likely to fuel further racism and Islamophobia' after the Manchester Airport attack.
The MP for Boston and Skegness had told TalkTV that the viral video, which showed partial footage of the incident, was 'reassuring'.
The assault happened on July 23 last year, when Amaaz and his brother, both from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, went to the airport to pick up their mother.
A fellow passenger who had been on the same flight reported being headbutted in the face by Amaaz during an altercation in a branch of Starbucks in the airport's Terminal 2.
When three GMP officers approached Amaaz to arrest him in connection with the incident, he lashed out before his brother allegedly intervened.
A video of the altercation between the brothers and the police appeared to show Pc Zachary Marsden kicking and stamping on Amaaz during his arrest.
He and another officer, who are under investigation over the way Amaaz was detained, face possible gross misconduct charges over the use of force and could be sacked if found guilty.
Lady Gohir told The Telegraph: 'I have never defended the criminal actions of Mohammed Fahir Amaaz and I welcome his conviction.
'My concern centred on the conduct of the police officer once the situation had already been brought under control.
'The UK rightly prides itself on upholding the rule of law, and it is essential that this is applied fairly and consistently, without selective enforcement.
'Scrutiny of police actions – and of public commentary by figures such as Richard Tice – is therefore both appropriate and necessary in any democratic society.'
She added: 'The resurfacing of old and disingenuously framed social media posts is clearly part of a wider, coordinated strategy by bad actors who are intent on derailing the definition process and preventing Muslims in Britain from receiving full protection against rising anti-Muslim hatred.
'The sustained wave of hostile media coverage gives the strong impression that some believe they can intimidate both the Working Group and the Government into abandoning this work.
'This campaign reveals far more about their attitude towards Muslims than it does about me – and that should alarm anyone who believes in fairness, equality, and justice.'
Addressing remarks by the shadow justice secretary, Lady Gohir said: 'It is ironic that Mr Jenrick accuses me of kneejerk reactions and smearing others, when he and his political allies repeatedly seize on – or even seek out – stories involving Muslims, turning them into controversies without bothering to grasp the full context or facts.
'This pattern suggests a cynical willingness to inflame tensions for political gain, rather than fostering informed and constructive debate.'
'It is deeply disappointing – though not surprising – that certain individuals continue to resort to smear campaigns and misinformation in an attempt to stop the vital task of the Working Group on a definition of anti-Muslim hatred/Islamophobia.
'Despite the noise and deliberate distractions, I remain committed to developing a definition that upholds free speech while protecting individuals from hatred.'
