Muslim bridegroom hits back over MP Jim Fitzpatrick wedding boycott

By Gemma Collins THE bridegroom of the wedding where MP Jim Fitzpatrick and his wife walked out after being refused entry as a couple has expressed his disappointment at the Government Minister s action. The Labour MP for Poplar and Canning Town, and

By Gemma Collins

THE bridegroom of the wedding where MP Jim Fitzpatrick and his wife walked out after being refused entry as a couple has expressed his disappointment at the Government Minister's action.

The Labour MP for Poplar and Canning Town, and his wife Sheila, refused to stay at a wedding at the London Muslim Centre in Whitechapel on Sunday after they were directed to separate rooms for men and women.

But the groom Bodrul Islam claimed today that a member of his family had called the MP back to the wedding but he had declined, insisting he was not offended.

He said: "My wife and I are upset and disappointed that he has taken his grievances to the press rather than contacted myself or members of my family to clear any issues that he has with my wedding arrangements.

"We chose the London Muslim Centre as a wedding venue as it catered for our families religious and cultural requirements."

The Minister for Food and Farming accused the centre in Whitechapel Road, next door to the East London Mosque, of imposing "stricter" segregation rules in recent month.

But bosses at the centre insist they have always had the policy to separate men and women but allowing non-Muslim guests to be seated together without segregation was "at the discretion of the families who have hired the hall".