Respect: Peace, equality, justice
Home arrow News arrow Respect news arrow Salma Yaqoob honoured by Birmingham media
Home News Join Respect Online Donate to Respect Articles Local Pages Policies Multimedia Campaign material Events/Get Involved Contact Us Links
Join our mailing list
All materials published and promoted by L Smith, PO Box 1109, London N4 2UU
Salma Yaqoob honoured by Birmingham media
Congratulations to Respect national vice-chair and leader of our council group in Birmingham, Salma Yaqoob on being named one of the most influential people in the city. The Birmingham Post's "Power 50" places Salma as the 11th most influential person.

She is ahead of the Labour group leader and is one of only four councillors on the list – the leader and deputy leader of Birmingham council coming in only just above her.

George Galloway MP said, "This is a remarkable achievement. The political establishment in the West Midlands take this listing very seriously – as for working people in the region, they are in fact more likely to place Salma higher on the scale as one of the few politicians from the area they’ve heard of.

"Interestingly, Salma's rivals for the parliamentary seat of Hall Green in Birmingham didn't feature on this list at all. The voters of Hall Green should be thankful that they have a candidate who is making a huge stir before she’s elected and who has established a reputation for holding the powerful to account, speaking her mind, defending the underdog and getting things done."

Respect national chair Linda Smith added, "We are very proud of Salma. She is an outstanding, progressive woman who defies the bigoted stereotypes that so much of the media perpetuates about Muslim and ethnic minority women. She symbolises what Respect is all about.

"As a party we are seeking to develop a new generation of political leaders who truly represent the localities they come from – in all their breadth and diversity."

Here is what the Birmingham Post says about Salma

Name: Salma Yaqoob
Position: Vice-Chairman, Respect Party
Sector: Public Sector
2007 Placing: new entry

Vice-chairman of the Respect Party and a city councillor for Birmingham's Sparkbrook ward since 2006, Salma Yaqoob is increasingly making a name for herself in the media as a commentator nationally on Muslim and race issues.

Born in 1971 in Bradford to Pakistani parents, Coun Yaqoob was moved to go into politics after the terror attacks of 9/11 when she was spat at in Birmingham city centre while shopping with her three-year-old child.

She became a leading national figure in the anti-war movement, encouraging Muslim and non-Muslim unity around common principles of peace, social justice and equality.

She stood as the Respect candidate for the Sparkbrook and Small Heath constituency at the 2005 General Election and, against all expectations, finished in second place with 27.5 per cent of the vote. A year later she easily won the Sparkbrook ward at the city council elections, opening the way for the election of two more Respect candidates.

She has repeatedly clashed with the council cabinet, accusing the city's Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition of not doing enough to tackle unemployment and deprivation in inner city areas.

Earlier this year Coun Yaqoob urged the Government to abolish postal voting at local and national elections, claiming that the system discriminated against Muslim women who were being forced to vote against their wishes by pressure from male family members.

She also reported experiencing pressure from within the Asian community not to stand as a councillor. "There were people saying it wasn't the job of a woman to be doing this," she said.
 

News and articles of interest

Here are some articles and news reports we think are worth looking at

Poll of polls shows Labour at its most unpopular since 1935 by Nigel Morris
Gordon Brown is leading Labour to its worst electoral defeat since the 1930s, according to a new "poll of polls" for The Independent. On current levels of support, Labour would lose almost half its MPs at the next election and David Cameron would become Prime Minister with an overwhelming majority. The backlash against Labour has left the party with the support of just 27 per cent of voters, the weighted average of last month's polls for The Independent shows.

Unmanned spy planes to police Britain by Kim Sengupta
The Government is drawing up plans to use unmanned "drone" aircraft currently deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan to counter terrorism and aid police operations in Britain. The MoD is carrying out research and development to enable the spy planes, which are equipped with highly sophisticated monitoring equipment that allows them to secretly track and photograph suspects without their knowledge, to be deployed within three years.

The Camp for Climate Action, at Kingsnorth, Kent, 3rd to 11th August - full details
Wednesday 10 am update. Local MP Bob Marshall-Andrews condems police action at climate camp (see BBC article), saying "I find the use of police in riot gear incomprehensible and I think it was a mistake." He also described the actions of the police as "provocation."

Diego Garcia: the UK's shame by Andy Worthington
The ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus wrote: "In war, truth is the first casualty." These words are particularly apt in relation to the British Overseas Territory of Diego Garcia, leased to the United States in 1971, where the truth – that a secret "War on Terror" prison existed from 2002 until as recently as 2006 – has been persistently denied by both the British and American governments.

The Horror Of Israeli Occupation - documentary developed by Chaim Yavin West Bank Checkpoints
A video clip that dramatically portrays the meeting of Israeli solders and Palestinians at controversial West Bank security checkpoints. This clip is the second of a series taken from "Land of the Settlers", the acclaimed documentary developed by Chaim Yavin, Israel's premier news anchor.

Anger at police raid on green camp ahead of coal protest by Matthew Taylor
Environmental campaigners and politicians criticised the police last night after around 200 officers raided a climate camp, seizing hundreds of items that they claimed could be used to break the law. Activists at the camp, which starts today with a series of workshops on sustainable energy and social justice, said the raid aimed to disrupt legitimate protest.

Morning Star Back on Track After Office Fire by Tomasz Pierscionek
In the early hours of Monday morning (last week), an electrical fire broke out at William Rust House, the East London office of the socialist newspaper the Morning Star. The fire, believed to have been caused by a malfunctioning air-conditioner, broke out at approximately 3am and caused considerable structural damage to both the interior of the Morning Star's newsroom and the equipment within, knocking out both electrical power and phone lines.

Venezuela Bridges Diplomatic Fissures and Polishes Alliances in European Tour by James Suggett
Rounding off a diplomatic tour of Europe that began with Tuesday's controversial visit in Russia, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez mended relations with the Spanish government, set up a bi-national commerce commission with Portugal, and eliminated visa requirements to facilitate bilateral accords with Belarus this week.

Why David Cameron Blames the Poor by Peter Taylor-Gooby
David Cameron's 'blaming the poor' speech in Glasgow may be more than just an attempt to placate the unreconstructed right of the Conservative party. It is not often recognised how far British public opinion has shifted towards a liberal individualist stance on social issues in recent years. In some ways we are more Thatcherite under New Labour than we ever were under the Conservatives.

Star names set to top the bill at Carnegie Festival - Dunfermline Press
TWO of the best-known faces on television will be making personal appearances in Dunfermline next month as part of the inaugural Carnegie Festival, from 21st August to 7th September. Evan Davis will be in dialogue with fiesty MP George Galloway in a conversation on Saturday, 23rd August, at 7.30pm in the Carnegie Hall. Tickets, priced £5, are available from the Carnegie Hall box office.

For more stories, click here