Shahid Malik
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Shahid Malik MP | |
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Member of Parliament
for Dewsbury |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 5 May 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Ann Taylor |
|---|---|
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| Born | 24 November 1967 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
Shahid Malik is British Member of Parliament for Dewsbury and serves as Minister for International Development in Gordon Brown's government. He is the first British Muslim to be made a Minister in any British Government. In June 2007, on becoming Prime Minister Gordon Brown made the historic decision to appoint Mr Malik as the Minister for International Development. It was a very rapid rise to Ministerial level given that Mr Malik had only been elected as the Member of Parliament for Dewsbury at the 2005 General Election.
His constituency of Dewsbury is viewed as one of the most challenging in the UK. In 2005 the BNP recorded its highest vote in the country in Dewsbury and two months later his constituency was home to the lead suicide bomber on the 7th July, Mohammed Saddique Khan.
On 11 June 2008, Shahid Malik voted with the government on the very important issue of 42 day detention with out charge. With a large Muslim community within his constituency, many are aggrieved he made little effort to engage in dialogue over the issue and stuck to the Labour whip so that he could make political progress.
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[edit] Early career
Shahid Malik studied Business Studies at the South Bank Polytechnic in South London, he then worked with the East Lancashire Training and Enterprise Council, working on business development - a career which eventually took him to the job of chief executive of Haringey Regeneration Agency in north London.
He was little known in Labour circles until he was elected to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee (NEC) (the first non-white person to hold that position) at his first attempt in 2000. Prominent left winger, Mark Seddon, then editor of Tribune, was defeated in the same election, and it claimed by Malik's supporters that this motivated numerous Tribune diary stories targeting him[citation needed].
[edit] Burnley Riots
Malik shot to national prominence in June 2001 during the riots in his hometown, Burnley in Lancashire. His father, Rafique (former Mayor), was Deputy Mayor of the town at the time. He claimed to be trying to calm the crowds of British Pakistani youths who had been confronting the police and whilst doing so Malik was beaten by the police, handcuffed and arrested. The event was caught on television cameras and images of Shahid, his face covered in blood, were broadcast nationally. Malik was later offered an apology by Lancashire Police and praised by the Chief Constable for his 'peace-keeping' role during the disturbances.
[edit] Standing for Parliament
Shahid Malik had hoped to be selected in Burnley where Peter Pike had indicated he was standing down. However, the National Executive Committee decided that this Constituency Labour Party should have an all-women shortlist [1]. Malik, however, responded to the decision by writing an article in The Guardian reafirrming his support for the policy of all-women shortlists. He stood for selection in Brent East after Labour lost the 2003 by-election but was controversially left off the shortlist, despite winning more nominations and votes than other candidates - indeed Malik had more votes than the sum of the votes of two male candidates (Robert Evans and Raj Jethwa) who went on to be shortlisted. Insults were traded that the selection had been 'stitched-up' for Evans, the by-election candidate; however, Yasmin Qureshi went on to win the Brent East selection but then failed to regain the once safe Labour seat at the general election in May 2005.
On 30th November 2006, the New Statesman 'revealed' that Labour peer, Lord Ahmed of Rotherham, campaigned for the Tories during the Dewsbury election in 2005. Ahmed is said to have backed Sayeeda Warsi, vice-chair of the Conservative Party, a personal friend. According to the New Statesman's report, Warsi "welcomed Lord Ahmed's support".
[edit] Highest expenses claim bill
"Dewsbury and Mirfield MP Shahid Malik has been named the costliest minister after MPs expenses were revealed. The MP and International Development Minister claimed £185,421 in taxpayer-funded expenses compared to prime minister Gordon Brown - then chancellor - who claimed £135,525. As an MP with a seat outside central London Mr Malik can claim up to £22,110 a year for staying away from his main home while on parliamentary duties while he can be reimbursed for office costs of up to £20,400. Mr Malik's claim for the 2006-2007 financial year included £95,230 on staffing and £21,266 on postage. Meanwhile the lowest claimer was Philip Hollobone, a conservative MP for Kettering who claimed just £44,55 for the year.(Dewsbury Reporter 26 October 2007 9:34 AM)"
Dewsbury Reporter(2007)MP Malik claims most expenses[Online] Available At> http://www.dewsburyreporter.co.uk/news/MP-Malik-claims-most-expenses.3419503.jp> [18th April 2008]
[edit] The Middle East, the USA and the Holocaust
Shahid Malik served as an international election monitor for the Palestinian Presidential elections in 2005 and Parliamentary elections in January 2006.
As an anti-hate campaigner he has written articles on the Holocaust and been a supporter of the UK’s Holocaust Memorial Day – remembering the Nazi genocide. He has also given talks across the UK alongside one of the world’s best known Holocaust survivors, Eva Schloss, the stepsister of famous war diarist Anne Frank.
Malik was an open critic of the war in Iraq. Despite this the London Evening Standard suggested that Shahid had overstated his opposition to the war in Iraq in an attempt to be selected in Brent East. He complained to the Press Complaints Commission over these newspaper reports which were subsequently retracted acknowledging Shahid had on numerous occasions expressed opposition previously, including on national news and at the Labour party Annual conference.
However, despite being openly critical of the war in Iraq, Shahid Malik voted very strongly against investigating the Iraq war. His decision to vote against investigating the war, despite his opposition to it, has not sat well with some constituents. [2]
In August 2006, while Parliamentary Private Secretary to School's Minister Jim Knight, he became the most senior British Parliamentarian to sign an open letter to the Prime Minister criticising the UK's foreign policy silence following the invasion of Lebanon.
Later in 2006, he visited the bombed areas of Lebanon and was shocked by the devastation caused by Israeli bombings of civilian areas. On his return to the UK he raised the issue in Parliament where he asked the Foreign Secretary: "Is my right hon. Friend aware that, according to the Mines Advisory Group and a cross-party group that was in Lebanon last month, some 32.7 million sq m of land are infected and contaminated by cluster munitions? According to the Mines Advisory Group, if the Israeli Government were to give it grid references for the 1.2 million bombs that were let loose in the last three days of action, instead of three children dying a day, as is the case, the number would, it hopes, be much less. Will he use his good offices to ensure that we put sufficient pressure on the Israeli Government to move forward on this important issue?"
In October 2007, it was revealed that he had on two separate occasions when visiting the USA been detained. In November 2006 he was detained for an hour while entering JFK airport New York, where he had been invited by the FBI and the Department of Homeland Securities to deliver an anti-terrorism speech to a 300 hundred, mainly Muslim audience. In October 2007 he was returning from a Ministerial trip when he falsely claimed to have been detained for some 40 minutes at Washington Dulles Airport and had his hand luggage searched for explosive traces. He had the previous day had a meeting with the Homeland Securities on security issues.[3]
US security officials, however, stated that they reviewed a videotape of his detention, which shows that he was detained for eight minutes. The officials also rubbished his assertion that he was chosen because of his religion. His original statement on his website was later withdrawn by his office. [4]
[edit] Constituency M.P.
Shahid is regarded as having the toughest constituency in the country - having both the highest BNP vote in the UK and at the same time being home to the lead suicide bomber on the 7th July, Mohammed Siddique Khan. He has been an outspoken critic of extremism and terrorism as well as the right-wing BNP. He is respected for being fair and honest on tough issues, being at the forefront in encouraging Muslims to integrate into British society and to go beyond condemning extremism and confronting them. He also opposed a Muslim teacher a Dewsbury primary school who claimed she was being discriminated against because she was not allowed to wear a niqab while teaching young children. She subsequently lost her case at an employment tribunal. He has also called for the swift removal of failed asylum seekers in order to ease community tension in his constituency.
When elected in May 2005 Shahid Malik set himself a target to open the doors of democracy for his constituents. At the last count, October 2007, Shahid announced that some 2,250 people from Dewsbury and Mirfield had been guests of the MP at Westminster. The overwhelming majority were school students.
In October 2007 it was revealed that Shahid Malik was the most expensive MP, claiming a staggering £185,421. Of that figure, £21,000 was spent on postage alone. [5]
In November 2007, Malik launched a libel action in the High Court against the Dewsbury Press and former Conservative councillor Jonathan Scott. The newspaper had published a letter from Scott claiming that "Malik's ethnic entourage behaved no better than BNP thugs" during a local council election in May 2006 at which Scott was unseated by Labour candidate Massood Ahmed, a Muslim. The newspaper had also claimed that "Malik convinced local Asian voters to vote for Labour candidates... on the grounds that those candidates were 'Muslim brothers'". [6]
Malik later dropped the case and agreed to an out-of-court settlement after the jury had failed to reach a verdict in the original trial. [7]
[edit] Significant National and International roles prior to becoming an MP
Shahid Malik has had a number of significant national roles prior to being involved in politics. These roles include:
National Chair of the Urban Forum: Elected annually via 450+ member organisations - a renowned national regeneration policy network made up of residents and community organisations , with the aim of pushing power to local people in deprived neighbourhoods.
Commissioner to the Northern Ireland Equality Commission: Appointed by then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam as the only Great British Commissioner (1999-2002) to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which was born out of the 'Good Friday Peace Agreement' – dealing with equalities issues between Catholics & Protestants, Unionists & Nationalists, and discrimination by race, gender, disability, sexuality, age.
Commissioner for Racial Equality, Great Britain: Law enforcement agency under the Race Relations act 1976 working to eliminate racial discrimination across Great Britain.
Vice-Chair of United Nations body, UNESCO UK: Working to engage UK civic society in UNESCO's work in contributing to world peace, security, justice and human rights, by promoting collaboration between nations on educational, scientific, cultural and communications projects.
Government Adviser on Community Cohesion and Neighbourhood Renewal
[edit] Parliamentary Jobs
Shahid Malik was elected as the Member of Parliament for Dewsbury in May 2005 and became the only newly elected Labour MP to be placed on the powerful Home Affairs Select Committee.
In December 2005 he won the prestigious House Magazine 'Best Maiden Speech of the Parliament' award which is regarded as the Parliamentary Oscars. The award is made once every four years and Shahid beat off over 100 other new MPs.
In January 2006 he became the Parliamentary ' Pool Champion ' – with the title came £1500 which he donated to local charities and causes in his constituency.
In February 2006 he was runner-up in the 'Channel Four News Rising Star Awards'.
In the Government reshuffle in May 2006 he was promoted to the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Schools Minister. [8].
In June 29th 2007 he was appointed a minister in the Department for International Development, making him Britain's first Muslim Minister.
[edit] London bombings
Since the London bombings of 7 July 2005, Malik has played a prominent role as one of the public faces of Muslim leadership in the UK. He has spoken in criticism of some of the responses to the bombings, and some of the suggestions of what needs to be done. He was invited to join a national working group of key Muslim leaders seeking answers to the bombings. He has called not just for internal reform within Muslim communities, but also for the rest of society to help tackle poverty and isolation of minority groups.
[edit] Problems With US Airport Security
Shahid Malik protested on 28 October 2007 at having been detained and searched for explosives at a Washington airport on his way home from a meeting with the US Department of Homeland Security. This was the second occasion that this Member of Parliament had been searched, having received the same treatment at JFK airport during a visit to the USA in November 2006. Mr Malik commented as follows: "The abusive attitude I endured last November I forgot about and I forgave, but I really do believe that British ministers and parliamentarians should be afforded the same respect and dignity at USA airports that we would bestow upon our colleagues in the Senate and Congress." [9].
US security officials first reacted by stating that they had reviewed a videotape of his detention, where they stated that he was detained for eight minutes. The officials also rubbished any assertion that he was chosen because of his religion yet only three people were held and all three were Muslims.
However, US Authorities later accepted in writing that the eight minutes they referred to was the time for secondary screening and not the time he was detained. The US Homeland Securities Department accepted that his actual detention was considerably longer than eight minutes.
Mr Malik seemed quite philosophical about his treatment and later wrote on his website: “"Following discussions with the USA Ambassador to the UK, Robert Tuttle, I have happily accepted his apology for the mix up that occurred during my departure from Washington Dulles airport over the weekend. In addition, following discussions with representatives from the Department of Homeland Securities in the USA, I want to reiterate my belief that no malice whatsoever was intended. I am looking forward to getting back out to the USA and continuing our work in tackling the common global challenges that our great nations face."
True to his word he spent his honeymoon in the USA in February 2008.
[edit] External links
- Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Shahid Malik MP
- TheyWorkForYou.com - Shahid Malik MP
- Transcript of maiden speech to the House of Commons
- Shahid Malik's website
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ann Taylor |
Member of Parliament for Dewsbury 2005 – present |
Incumbent |
