It was interesting to hear Ali Miraj, a senior activist of the Conservative Party, blast David Cameron for substance over spin. It’s interesting not because Ali (first name basis here at MPACUK), was a former blue-eyed boy of Michael Howard, the former leader of the Conservative Party and arguably the man that stopped the Tory ship sinking. It is remarkable because it highlights a pattern of Muslim politicians who are no longer insecure about standing up and being counted.

Labour has Lord Ahmed who shot to the rank of ‘trouble maker’ and exposed Dennis McShane MP for saying his (Lord Ahmed's) private conversations were being circulated in Whitehall. By this act Lord Ahmed, considered a loyal Blairite, earned the wrath of new Labour and the respect of Muslims for exposing Dennis McShane publicly. Labour also has the formidable Yasmin Qureshi who stood as the Brent East Labour candidate on a anti-Blair, anti-War ticket, without the support of the national party and nearly beating the eventual winner, Liberal Democrat Sarah Tether MP.

So Muslims in Labour have started to grow a spine, but let’s be honest, for every Lord Ahmed or Yasmin Quereshi there are 100 Khalid Mahmoods. That’s not to say join the party machine and marginalize yourself, it is to say that once you join the political debate and enter politics, don’t be afraid to have your voice heard. This country and the Muslim Ummah need people to stand up and be counted, and where possible to be comfortable enough in Britian and their own ability and belonging to oppose those who are considered powerful and part of the establishment. After all, where is the Muslim Bernie Grant? An MP who was proud to be black and a servant of all communities.
The Liberal Democrats have Nasser Butt - ahh the enigma that is Nasser. Little must people know but the man who started the avalanche which effectively buried the Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy was started by Nasser ‘yodeling’ (the throaty noise the Swiss use to communicate across mountain peaks, apparently!) Butt. He asked a question on a national TV debate about the ‘effective use of a prospective candidate's time having to justify the performance of the party leader.’ Kennedy was bamboozled. The stone Nasser kicked over the edge, reverberated around the canyons, the media picked up on the noise and echoed it until Kennedy was buried.

Nasser (still first name basis), to this day denies that was his intention, but he would, wouldn’t he? However Nasser has not become a party untouchable, or the equivalent of a Liberal Democrat leper. He has maintained his integrity and holds the title ‘trouble maker’ without a chip on his shoulder and continues to work in his party. He has shown the confidence to ask awkward questions and not kow-tow to the party leadership, hoping not to rock the boat. In stark contrast Ajmal Masroor sold MPACUK down the river the moment a tabloid threatened to blackmail him with an expose for a previous indiscretion and the party, not wanting any negative publicity, gave him his instructions to publicly distance himself from MPACUK and resign his position. He had neither the honour to stand by MPACUK, remarkably after he had asked us for help, nor the strength of character to challenge the Liberal Democrats' party orders.

And so to the Tories and Ali Miraj. When Ali said on the country's most influential breakfast political show, the superb Radion 4 Today programme:

“I'm disillusioned because I think substance has been replaced by PR".
"What I'm asking for is some substance and some credibility and not box-ticking and gimmickry. People have had enough of Tony Blair for 10 years. They don't want another Tony Blair".
"The contrast is with Gordon Brown. David Cameron in my view has got substance, somewhere in there, but I'm afraid that in recent weeks, that has been taken over by PR".
"What I want to see is that balance redressed so that we can have a decent chance of winning the next election and if present form continues, we certainly won't."

Now that is a shot across the bows not only of the Tories, but of those spineless Muslims who have no real political convictions, just a craving for political patronage. Ali has joined the ‘Trouble Maker’ club. A group of people who regardless of political creed, are confident enough to stand up and ensure that their voices are not silenced because of a self-defeating insecurity or craven need to be accepted. It’s not easy having your voice heard, especially in today’s climate if you’re a Muslim, but the few who do stand up are heard. The cost could be a safe seat and to be fair Ali has probably discounted that, but it also patronage, to be seen hob-knobbing with party grandees, to be in the in–crowd. There is a cost to be paid by standing up and opposing the party leadership, but the benefits of having a spine and being respected and valued far outweigh any amount of rubbish from any of the political parties table.

The moment Ali had voiced his opinions, the Tory party and David Cameron started the smear and accussed him of trying to get a peerage and in disapointment at being refused attacked Cameron (having said that, if a hard working intelligent A-List candidate won't get selected because he is Muslim, then the Tories need to find ways of engaging and rewarding loyal members who are discriminated against because of their religion). But the spin the Tories are putting on this sordid affair is one that smacks of hypocracy. If Ali had donated money they'd be no questions about gaining a peerage. Ali has spoken out because of his conviction for the party and well done to him for doing so.

But what makes these Muslims able to stand up for themselves, what gives them the ability to speak out when so many others do not? Well it starts with a mindset of belonging, a integrated mindset and includes a real political conviction. In Ali’s case, he can talk for hours on the need to redistribute wealth through encouraging enterprise and reducing the reliance on the state. He can wax lyrical about ensuring that the peoples' right to choose is not determined by the Government or a nanny state, but by the individual will of the individual. In short he buys into large aspects of the ideology of the Tory party. Nasser Butt can hold a conversation about Liberal ideal and values, most Muslims in the Liberal Democrat party still can’t articulate what makes their core different to Labour.

It is about time that more Muslims get involved in the political system, more Muslims understand what they are buying into and more Muslims feel integrated enough to be able to have their voices heard, without fear or the need to ingratiate themselves.

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