MUSLIM Backers of Jack Straw in Blackburn have angrily denied that they are to blame for MP Jack Straw losing his job as Foreign Secretary.

They spoke out after newspaper reports suggested that Mr Straw was moved from the Foreign Office in May because of pressure from George Bush.

It was alleged that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was shocked to see how Mr Straw was excessively influenced by his Muslim constituents during her visit to the town in March.

Four weeks later Mr Straw was made Leader of the Commons, seen by many as a demotion.

Now some Muslims say that Mr Straw was a man of the people with close connections to all Blackburn communities.

Coun Salim Mulla, secretary of Lancashire council of mosques, said: "I think Bush and Blair were planning something behind the scenes and they probably saw Jack as a pawn.

"I am fuming. Tony Blair has become Bush's puppet. I will say that even though I am a staunch member of the Labour party.

"Yes there is a close relationship with Jack but he has a close relationship with everybody in Blackburn."

He said this was because Mr Straw was a fantastic MP and helped attract millions of pounds of investment to deprived areas.

Yes there is a close relationship with Jack but he has a close relationship with everybody in Blackburn Coun Salim Mulla
 
At the time of his move to the cabinet office, Mr Straw said it was a golden opportunity to reconnect the British people with politics, see more of his family, spend extra time in his constituency - and get to more Rovers home matches.

Coun Suleman Khonat, who represents Shear Brow, said he would be disappointed if Mr Bush had ordered Mr Straw's dismissal: "Jack is a man of word, a man of character, a man of honour.

"He will do anything he can for everybody. It doesn't matter if they are Muslim, Christian, white, black, or pink."

Labour Lord Patel said Mr Straw commanded respect from all sections of society in Blackburn: "How many members of the cabinet are holding five surgeries a month?"

He said Tony Blair's foreign policy was a total failure and he was fed up of him blindly following Bush.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "Our view is that it's a nonsense."

When asked if there had ever been a meeting where George Bush might have expressed concerns about Mr Straw to Tony Blair, he said: "None that I am aware of."

A spokesman for Mr Straw, who is on holiday, said that Mr Blair had described a similar suggestion in May as "rubbish".

Source: Lancashire Telegraph

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