Tory MP Bob Blackman ‘regrets’ sharing Islamophobic Facebook post Bob Blackman, the Conservative MP for Harrow East, has expressed “regret” after sharing a Facebook post from an American anti-Muslim […]

Bob Blackman, the Conservative MP for Harrow East, has expressed “regret” after sharing a Facebook post from an American anti-Muslim website.

The MP shared a story with the headline “Muslim Somali sex gang say raping white British children ‘part of their culture'” from the website Hardcore News USA, which often features Islamophobic stories and conspiracy theories.

He later deleted the link, having shared it on Sunday night because “the subject matter is very troubling”, he told the Times.

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The Muslim Council of Britain accused him of having “a consistent record of giving a platform to bigots” and added: “If the Conservative Party claims to be a party for all, it cannot continue to tolerate and even reward such behaviour. It cannot give Islamophobia a free pass.”

Mr Blackman said: “I deleted the link as I saw that the headline to the article was phrased inappropriately. I can confirm that I have never visited the website in question and am not part of any group related to it. I sincerely regret any upset caused to the Muslim Council of Britain or the wider community for my error.”

‘Abhorrent views’

It is not the first time Mr Blackman has been criticised for associations with Islamophobia.

In October last year, he was attacked by a Labour MP for inviting a Hindu nationalist who praised the genocide of the Rohingya in Burma to an event in Parliament.

Tapan Ghosh, who denied Islamophobia, “holds abhorrent views, is on record for calling upon the United Nations to control the high birth rate of Muslims” and was pictured with far-right leader Tommy Robinson on the same trip, according to Labour MP Naz Shah.

Mr Blackman issued a similar clarification at the time, saying: “I’ve had a chance now to study these various tweets and they’re not ones I agree with.

“He did not make anti-Islamic remarks at the event. I can assure you had he voiced some of these comments I would’ve challenged him.”

Venom against Pakistan

Blackman, who is “known for his venom against Pakistan” according to Pakistani media, also retweeted Tommy Robinson “in error” in 2016. He also apologised then.

The new post comes after Jeremy Corbyn faced a strong backlash for following several Facebook pages on which members of the public had posted anti-Semitic material, and for expressing support for a mural artist who had depicted an antisemitic conspiracy scene.

The Labour leader said he was “sorry for not having studied the content of the mural more closely before wrongly questioning its removal in 2012” in a response to Jewish leaders.

Nonetheless, Jewish activists and their supporters, including more than 20 Labour MPs, mounted a protest outside Parliament calling for more to be done to stamp out antisemitism.