MP urges U-turn on police station closures after ‘Muslim patrol’ footage
Mayor of London Boris Johnson should reconsider his decision to close police stations in Tower Hamlets in light of evidence of ‘Muslim patrols’ in the area, an MP has urged.
Rushanara Ali, MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said footage of members of the public being approached and receiving homophobic abuse from groups of Muslim vigilantes show that the police must have resources to deal with such incidents.
“This kind of intolerance and intimidation has absolutely no place in modern Britain, and absolutely no place in our capital city”, she said.
“I call on the government and Mayor of London Boris Johnson to reconsider dangerous police cuts in my constituency, so that police, already under real pressure, have the resources they need.”
Police stations in Poplar, Bow, and the Isle of Dogs, have all been earmarked for the chop.
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At Wednesday’s meeting of Tower Hamlets Council, the borough’s Mayor Lutfur Rahman condemned the actions shown in videos, filmed in the Whitechapel area.
He said: “This sort of behaviour is unacceptable anywhere in the country, never mind in Tower Hamlets”.
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Two men, aged 19 and 22, have been arrested in connection with the investigation. Both have been bailed to return to an east London police station on dates in February and March pending further enquiries.
