A sacked Labour councillor has claimed the party has a ‘problem with black and ethnic minority women’.
Amina Lone went on TV to say that MP Sarah Champion was being treated as a ‘scapegoat’ after she was forced to resign.
The member for Rotherham had said the UK had a ‘problem’ with British Pakistanis abusing white girls.
Manchester councillor Ms Lone went on to stand up for her, telling the BBC: ‘She is not a racist but a brave woman speaking out about a politically awkward issue.’
The Labour leadership at the council said the decision not to reselect her had been taken because she had a poor attendance and campaigning record.
Amina Lone (left) went on TV to say that Sarah Champion (right) was being treated as a ‘scapegoat’
But the punishment will add to concerns that moderates who speak out against Mr Corbyn are being silenced.
Miss Champion quit as shadow women and equalities minister last week. The Labour leader told her she would be sacked from the Shadow Cabinet if she refused to resign over her controversial article in The Sun five days before.
The article came after 17 men were convicted of forcing girls in Newcastle upon Tyne to have sex. Miss Champion, MP for Rotherham, has campaigned for years about organised sexual abuse in her constituency where at least 1,400 children were exploited.
After Miss Champion’s resignation, Miss Lone went on BBC2’s Newsnight to say: ‘I think she’s been punished and used as a scapegoat because as a politician she’s an easy target.’ She later wrote on Twitter: ‘I grew up in a Muslim community where these attitudes were common. ‘White girls are easy’, ‘Nobody cares about them’, ‘They are just slags’, ‘Their parents don’t look after them properly’ etc were/are still said today. I hear it regularly.
‘Sarah Champion was talking about a particular type of grooming which is carried by men because of their cultural/religious practices. Obviously not all men.
‘She is not a racist but a brave woman speaking out about a politically awkward issue. Labour, bury your heads as much as you like in the black and white purist world you push. The chickens will come home to roost.’
Miss Lone, who has been a councillor in Manchester for seven years, has been barred from standing again in next year’s local elections.
In a letter to the party, a former local party chairman has called it ‘one straw too many’ and said it brought ‘shame to the Manchester Labour party’. Drew Walsh said: ‘Councillors who do not fit in and comply are sidelined or worse still, removed from the council.’
Miss Lone told the Manchester Evening News that her ‘outspoken’ campaigning on gender equality in the Muslim community may have fuelled the decision.
She said her de-selection was the result of a faction ‘looking to curry favour and get rid of an outspoken woman’, adding: ‘It is sad that a minority within tarnish the work of so many decent Labour people.
The Labour councillor who spoke up in support of an MP effectively sacked by Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) has been deselected
‘It is curious this action has been taken at a time when I am loudly championing gender equality within faith communities.’
Usually sitting councillors are automatically allowed to stand again, but earlier this summer Miss Lone was ordered to face an interview on the grounds that her campaign and council attendance records were not good enough.
She was not re-selected despite a letter of support from council leader Sir Richard Leese, and also lost a subsequent appeal. A fellow female councillor who went through the same process, again due to issues with her campaign record, was re-selected.
A Labour spokesman said: ‘The process for selecting local government candidates is clear and outlined in the party’s rulebook.
‘We conduct a fair and rigorous appeals process with members from outside the area. The decisions made are based on evidence provided.’