MP prevented from boarding flight ‘because his name was Mohammed’

Published

11 months ago

October 24, 2023

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An MP was prevented from boarding a flight to Canada “because his name was Mohammad”, the Commons has been told.

Mohammad Yasin, the Labour MP for Bedford, was due to fly to Canada last week with a group of other MPs from the Commons Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee when he was held back for extra questioning.

Officials from Air Canada asked the MP if he was carrying a knife or any other weapon as well as his place of birth.

The incident was raised by the Labour chair of the committee, Clive Betts, who said he would write to the Canadian high commissioner in the UK about the “racist and Islamophobic nature” of what happened.

Mr Betts told the Commons: “When the committee checked in for their flights at Heathrow, all members got through with the exception of the member for Bedford, who was delayed for questioning for a considerable period.

“He was told it was because his name was Mohammad.”

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Mr Betts added: “He was also asked whether he was carrying a knife, or other offensive weapons, he was also asked where he was born.

“The questioning was undertaken by officials from Air Canada and we believe the Canadian government, and despite him already having been given a visa to enter Canada.

“After proving he was an MP with the help of my committee clerk, he was eventually allowed through.”

Mr Betts said “the same issues” were raised by Canadian immigration at Montreal airport.

“On return at Toronto airport on the way back, he was again challenged and got on his flight with the assistance of my consul general, who was very helpful,” he said.

Mr Betts went on: “He has received apologies from the parliamentary secretary to the Canadian minister for immigration and Air Canada, however, given the racist and Islamophobic nature of these challenges, I believe that it is worth writing to the Canadian high commissioner, which I will do.

“I believe it is important to put these concerns on the parliamentary record. It was completely unacceptable for a member of this house to be treated in this way.

“But because he was an MP he was allowed on his flight. If, however, he had been one of our constituents who had been so challenged, he might have been refused.

Sir Roger Gale, the deputy speaker replied: “I am sure that the whole House will share the dismay at the treatment of the Member for Bedford.

“It is wholly unacceptable under any circumstances.

“But it is particularly concerning, occurring as it did, in the course of official travel on parliamentary business.”

Sir Roger said he was sure ministers “will also have noticed his comments”.

Politics

Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer ‘very sensible’ to accept football tickets worth thousands

Published

7 hours ago

September 21, 2024

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Lisa Nandy says Sir Keir Starmer 'very sensible' to accept football tickets worth thousands

Lisa Nandy has said Sir Keir Starmer’s decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of football tickets was “very sensible”.

The minister for culture, media and sport also said she had never accepted free clothes from a donor.

Speaking to Sky News at the start of the Labour Party conference today, the MP for Wigan said: “The problem that has arisen since [Sir Keir] became leader of the opposition and then prime minister is that for him to sit in the stands would require a huge security detail, would be disruptive for other people and it would cost the taxpayer a lot of money.

“So I think he’s taken a very sensible decision that’s not the right and appropriate thing to do, and it’s right to accept that he has to go and sit in a different area.

“But I know that he’d much rather be sitting in the stands cheering people on with the usual crowd that he’s been going to the football with for years.”

Ms Nandy also said while she has not accepted free clothes – joking “I think you can probably see that I choose my own clothes sadly” – she doesn’t “make any judgements about what other members of parliament do”.

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She said: “The only judgement I would make is if they’re breaking the rules, so they’re trying to hide what they’re doing. That’s when problems arise.

“Because the point of being open and transparent is that people can see where the relationships are, and they can then judge for themselves whether there’s been any undue influence.”

She asserted there had not been an undue influence in gifts accepted by senior Labour figures, adding: “We don’t want the news and the commentary to be dominated by conversations about clothes.

“We rightly have a system, I think, where the taxpayer doesn’t fund these things. We don’t claim on expenses for them. And so MPs will always take donations, will always take gifts in kind.

“MPs of all political parties have historically done that and that is the system that we have.”

She added: “I don’t think there’s any suggestion here that Keir Starmer has broken any rules. I don’t think there’s any suggestion that he’s done anything wrong.

“We expect our politicians to be well turned out, we expect them to be people who go out and represent us at different events and represent the country at different events and are clothed appropriately.

“But the point is that when we accept donations for that or for anything else, that we declare them and we’re open and transparent about them.”

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Sir Keir, Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves said yesterday they will no longer accept donations in the future to pay for clothes.

The announcement followed criticism of Sir Keir’s gifts from donors, which included clothing worth £16,200 and multiple pairs of glasses worth £2,485, according to the MPs’ register of interests.

The register shows Ms Rayner has accepted clothing donations to the value of £2,230.

Sky News also revealed the scale of Sir Keir’s donations this week as part of our Westminster Accounts investigation.

Sir Keir was found to have received substantially more gifts and freebies than any other MP – his total in gifts, benefits, and hospitality topped £100,000 since December 2019.