by Hugo Timms, spiked
Tahir Ali wants Islamic blasphemy laws, a new airport in Pakistan and war with Israel.
Remind me who Tahir Ali represents again? The Labour MP is a tireless campaigner for a new international airport – not in his Birmingham constituency or even the UK, but in Mirpur, Pakistan. The last time he was in the news, Ali was demanding to know when the government was going to get around to introducing Islamic blasphemy laws. And now he wants to go to war with Israel.
In the House of Commons on Monday, Ali got to his feet to address a debate on Palestine and Israel. ‘Previous governments’, he said, ‘have intervened in the Middle East to take action on human-rights abuses and protect international trade routes’. After clearing his throat, Ali cut to the chase: ‘Isn’t it time that military action is taken against Israel?’
Ali later tried to backtrack after Labour higher-ups attacked him for freelancing on defence and foreign policy. On Wednesday, Ali claimed his speech gave the wrong ‘impression’ and that he absolutely did not ‘support the use of military force’ against the Jewish State. We should take this later statement with a mine’s worth of salt. He literally asked the government to take military action against Israel. That he now claims this is not what he meant is the sign of someone worried about his political career.