ELECTION GUIDE
MAY 5th 2005
CONSTITUENCY:
Croydon North
MUSLIM DEMOGRAPHICS:
| Muslim Population* |
10,683 |
9.1% |
| Muslims of Voting Age |
6,837 |
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2001 ELECTION RESULT:
| Labour |
26,610 |
 |
63.5% |
| Tory |
9,752 |
 |
23.3% |
| Lib Dem |
4,375 |
 |
10.5% |
| Other |
1,145 |
 |
2.8% |
| Total Turnout |
41,882 |
54.7% |
| Majority |
16,858 |
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CANDIDATES:
Malcolm Wicks (Labour)
Summary
Malcolm Wicks
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LABOUR
Croydon North
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Voting History
War
 Voted for Invasion of Iraq ( Iraq - Declaration of War, 18 Mar 2003)
Absent from vote on Air strikes on Afghanistan (Coalition Against International Terrorism, 1 Nov 2001)
Anti-Terror Laws
Voted for Indefinite detention without charge, without trial (Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill - Clauses 22 to 24 - Indefinite Detention - 21 Nov 2001)
Voted for Renewal of above law (Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 - Renewal of Part 4 sections 21-23 - 3 Mar 2004)
Voted for Control orders – house arrests (Prevention of Terrorism Bill - Third Reading - 28 Feb 2005)
Muslim Schools
 Voted against Proposed amendment to Education Bill forcing all new state funded religious schools to reserve at least a quarter of places to children from other faiths thereby effectively destroying the religious ethos of the school. This disproportionately targeted the Muslim community as out of around 7000 existing state funded religious schools that would escape this law only 4 were Muslim - all new Muslim schools would be effected.(Education Bill - New Clause 1 6 Feb 2002)
Early Day Motions
Islamophobia
Did not sign EDM on Call for BBC to sack Kilroy-Silk for his racist comments. (EDM 383, 08.01.04)
Halal Meat
Did not sign EDM on Call for the government to work actively to end religious slaughter in the UK (EDM 104, 26.11.03)
Hijab
Did not sign EDM on Call for UK & EU partners to protest France's ban on religious symbols in schools. (EDM 461, 21.01.04)
Israel
Did not sign EDM on Call for suspension of EU-Israel Association Agreement which gives Israel preferential trade terms with the EU. (EDM 1288, 26.05.04)
Did not sign EDM on Call for sanctions against Israel for not complying with the International Court of Justice decision on the illegality of the separation wall.(EDM 162, 24.11.04)
US
Did not sign EDM exposing double standards in US foreign policy regarding terrorism and democracy. (EDM 664, 04.02.05)
Election Survey:
Questionnaire not returned.
If you live in this constituency we request that you email our sample letter to this candidate asking them to respond - its your right to know what your candidate stands for. Failure to respond may be interpreted as a candidates unwilling to clarify his or her real position and a disregard for the concerns of Muslim constituents.
Other Information
Currently he is
Minister of state, work and pensions department (2003 - present). Before that he was the
junior minister for education and employment (1999 - 2001).
His record in parliament is of someone who never votes aginst Blair. He supports imperialist wars and all anti-terror laws that have targeted the Muslim community. He has never supported any EDMs critical of Israel - in fact he has never supported any EDM at all! Such a person, who simply takes Blairs orders and obeys them without question, does not deserve the votes of Muslims.
Under members interests he admits that in Feb 2003, Nestle UK Ltd. ( HQ is in Croydon) paid for him and his wife to attend a
Gala Performance by London Mozart Players and dinner and hospitality at St. James's Palace. ( see boycott nestle ).
Adrian Gee-Turner (Lib-Dem)
Summary
Adrian Gee-Turner
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LIBERAL DEMOCRAT
Croydon North
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Voting History/Early Day Motions
Not Applicable
Election Survey:
Questionnaire not returned.
If you live in this constituency we request that you email our sample letter to this candidate asking them to respond - its your right to know what your candidate stands for. Failure to respond may be interpreted as a candidates unwilling to clarify his or her real position and a disregard for the concerns of Muslim constituents.
Other Information
He is a senior manager in the healthcare industry (medical aerosol for drugs).
He advocates legalising drugs suggesting that regulation and rehabilitation are the solution, not prohibition![1]
As a councillor in Hackney he apparently supported the
filming of a hard core porn film in the ward that he was meant to represent![2]
[1]
http://www.n16mag.com/issue12/p15i12.htm
[2]
http://www.hackneyindependent.org/news/news2001c.htm
http://www.hackneyindependent.org/hackind/4d2001.htm
Tariq Ahmad (Tory)
Summary
Tariq Ahmad
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CONSERVATIVE
Croydon North
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Voting History/Early Day Motions
Not Applicable
Election Survey:
Questionnaire not returned.
If you live in this constituency we request that you email our sample letter to this candidate asking them to respond - its your right to know what your candidate stands for. Failure to respond may be interpreted as a candidates unwilling to clarify his or her real position and a disregard for the concerns of Muslim constituents.
Other Information
Tariq Ahmad is head of marketing for a commodities and futures broker.
Tariq Ahmad has given his suport to the newly formed "Friends of Kashmir" group in the Conservative party.[1]
[1]
In March 2005, the Conservative Party launched its "Friends of Kashmir" group with Paul Goodman MP as its chairman. Its aim is to "promote the issue and the cause of its people within the Conservative party" and commits to "solve the issue peacefully and democratically and in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people". Its too early to say whether this is just another opportunist paper project launched just before elections in order to catch a few votes or whether their is any substance to this group.
See http://www.infopak.gov.pk/news/kashnews/kashnews2005/
kash_mar12_2005.htm
Shasha Khan (Green)
Summary
Shasha Khan
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GREEN
Croydon North
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Voting History/Early Day Motions
Not Applicable
Election Survey:
Questionnaire not returned.
If you live in this constituency we request that you email our sample letter to this candidate asking them to respond - its your right to know what your candidate stands for. Failure to respond may be interpreted as a candidates unwilling to clarify his or her real position and a disregard for the concerns of Muslim constituents.
Other Information
He runs a dance music record label "Shasha" and also runs a
night club promotions outfit.
Conclusions
With nearly a 17,000 majority this is a safe Labour seat which is unlikely to change hands at the elections no matter which party you vote for (Muslim voters number just under 7,000). This is unfortunate as the Labour candidate is a war monger who appears to have no regard for civil liberties or ethics (taking payment from Nestle - shame!).
With very little information available on the other candidates (no returned questionnaires) we cannot make a recommendation.
Election Guide Home
* Our figures are conservative reflecting the minimal strength of the Muslim vote:
1. The Muslim population figures are taken from the 2001 census. The religion question was optional and many Muslims did not feel comfortable giving out this information if wasn't a requirement. (This writer knows of two members of his own family who did not answer this question out of fear that one day this data will be used to discriminate against them).
2. Our statistics assume only 64% of the Muslim population is of voting age (18+). This figure is much lower than the national average because the Muslim population is the youngest in the country with 34% under the age of 16 (the national average is 20% under 16). Please note that our estimates are slightly less than those given on the MCB website.
(source http://www.statistics.gov.uk)
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