Pro-Palestinian activists threaten to protest outside family homes of councillors over bin strikes
Pro-Palestinian activists have threatened to demonstrate outside the family homes of Birmingham city councillors amid ongoing industrial action by bin workers, prompting warnings from police and Labour officials.
Akhmed Yakoob and Shakeel Afsar ran as independent candidates in last year’s general election on pro-Gaza tickets.
The pair warned if the strike over refuse collections was not resolved, they would target councillors at their private residences.
They singled out Majid Mahmood, Birmingham’s cabinet member for environment and transport, who has since contacted West Midlands Police.
Speaking on a picket line with striking bin workers from the Unite union, Mr Yakoob declared: “We are here joining the binmen in their strikes. They need to be spoken to, there needs to be talks.
“Majid Mahmood, Birmingham city council, if you do not sit down with these workers, then we will come outside your house and your offices to protest, which is our democratic right.”
In his own fiery address, Mr Afsar also sent a message to council officials.
“Majid Mahmood and anyone else involved, remember this: We will disturb you at your offices, we will disturb you at your home residence, and we will invoke our democratic right to protest not only here but where it affects you,” he said.
Pro-Palestinian activists have threatened to protest outside the family homes of Birmingham councillors over bin strikes
|
INSTAGRAM: AKHMED YAKOOB
Mr Mahmood accepted the two men had a right to protest but condemned the threats made to demonstrate outside private residences.
“It is completely inappropriate to threaten to go to my house and other cabinet members’ homes, where our families are, as part of any protest around industrial action,” he said.
“People have the right to protest but these should be at appropriate places not a residential address and nobody should ever feel intimidated at their home or place of work. I have been in contact with the police,.”
A Labour source told The Sunday Telegraph: “No politician should feel unsafe at home over Christmas for just doing their job.
Councillor Majid Mahmood said he had contacted the police over the threat
|
INSTAGRAM: AKHMED YAKOOB
“The Birmingham bin strike has taken its toll on the city, but every effort is being made to get it resolved. This type of politics puts any progress in jeopardy and Unite should not associate themselves with it.”
Unite in turn dissavowed the statements made by Mr Yakoob and Mr Afsar.
“Unite does not condone the statements expressed in the video, which are totally wrong. Protesting outside people’s homes is completely unacceptable,” they said.
“The individuals speaking in the video are not part of the dispute. The workers in the video were not made aware before agreeing to be filmed of what would be said and would not have appeared in it if they had known.”
Birmingham City Council has been locked in an industrial dispute with bin workers since January, after Unite claimed employees faced pay cuts of up to £8,000, a quarter of the wages of some staff.
Mr Yakoob, who gained prominence as the so-called “TikTok lawyer”, stood as an independent candidate at both the West Midlands mayoral election and last year’s general election.
He was endorsed by George Galloway for the mayoral contest and claimed he had been chosen by Allah to “challenge the Zionist regime”, additionally asserting Zionists follow a “fascist ideology” and “control everything.”
Meanwhile, Mr Afsar ran as an independent candidate for Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley in the general election.
The pair were protesting the unresolved dispute over binmen’s wages in Birmingham
|
GETTY
He previously led a religious protest over LGBT+ lessons outside a primary school in Birmingham, despite having no children at the institution. The demonstration was later banned by a judge.
Although both men lost to Labour candidates, they took unexpectedly large shares of the vote, prompting concern at Labour headquarters.
