George Galloway took to the stage last night to re-launch his Respect party in Newham and try to force a local election after the council rejected plans for a so-called mega mosque.

Mr Galloway vowed to put a petition up on the Downing Street website, as soon as parliament resumes after its Christmas break, demanding Newham Council changes its decision on the mosque or changes its leadership.

Mr Galloway, a former MP for Bethnal Green and Bow and now the MP for Bradford West, said he believed Newham is ready for a political revival after Newham councillors voted down a planning application for a mosque holding more than 9,000 people in Canning Town, run by followers of the controversial Tablighi Jamaat movement.

More than 50 people turned out for the public meeting in Plaistow which also saw Lee Jasper, a former advisor to previous London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Yvonne Ridley, a war correspondent who converted to Islam after being captured by the Taliban, take to the stage.

Dressed all in black Mr Galloway told people gathered inside Harold Road Centre, off Green Street, that he would send one of his top people to challenge Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales' leadership in Newham at the next local election. He did not rule out that he might take on the challenge himself.

If the Respect party does not succeed in forcing an early election in Newham, following the refusal of the mosque, then the party plans to put up a Mayoral candidate and councillors in 2014 when elections are due.

Mr Galloway said: "Newham is ready for a political revival and as far as we're concerned it begins here tonight. We know there is something rotten in this borough. New Labour has far too much power for the good of the borough.

He then hit out at the councillors decision to reject the mosque. "It's a big mosque because a lot of people want to pray to the almighty. What is wrong with praying?"

Mr Galloway went on to say that you can lend money at high interest rates at a time when "destructive" aspects of society such as alcohol and gambling is rife. "But you can't build a mosque," he said.

"There are 90,000 Muslims voters in Newham as Labour is going to find out at the next local election. And they have all just got a slap in the face by their own leadership."

He asked the audience if they thought the council would have turned down plans for a Catholic church or Jewish synagogue. "They did it because the people involved are Muslims. And because they thought they could get away with it," he said

And he warned New Labour they could suffer the same fate as in Tower Hamlets where he defeated their MP Oona King in 2005.

Mr Galloway said: "Oona King, who is now skating on ice, voted to attack Iraq when 90 per cent of her electorate where against the war because she thought she could get away with it because who else would they vote for in Tower Hamlets. There was only me so she thought there would just be a bit of rocking of the boat."

He branded the decision to reject the mosque an insult to Muslims in Newham. "We can't take the decision on the mosque lying down. All my experience in Bradford and Tower Hamlets tells me that if you fail first time try again. The leadership in Newham must be changed."

Newham previously had three Respect councillors but all sitting councillors are Labour.

Newham Recorder, 29 December 2012

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Plans for a super mosque close to the Olympic stadium reveal that it could hold almost 10,000 people. Architects' drawings show that the vast mosque will be about the same size as Battersea Power Station. By comparison, Britain's largest cathedral, in Liverpool, can hold 3,000 worshippers.

Newham Council in east London is due to decide whether it will grant planning permission for the structure next month.

Former councillor Alan Craig has launched a campaign to stop the project. He has produced 100,000 leaflets, which were being distributed throughout the borough yesterday. Mr Craig said: "The mega-mosque is proposed and planned by a particularly disturbing Islamic sect called Tablighi Jamaat."

He said that Tablighi Jamaat had been promoting itself as open and socially integrated. However, progressive Muslims who support the campaign against the mosque view its beliefs as "narrow and divisive". He said: "In my view we would be mad, barking mad, if we let the project go ahead."

Sunday Express, 4 November 2012

This has prompted the usual ignorant and bigoted comments from readers:

"Why encourage the destabilization of society by pandering to the needs of Islamic sect's which are funder mentally detrimental to the religious and political stability of the British Isles. An Islamic state is being created from within with the aid of the political correctness brigade and short sighted politicians."

"... we WILL end up with a mosque on the CORNER of each street in the country because they are ALLOWED to do JUST as they wont. In some inner city areas there are several mosques within walking distant of each other, WHY do they need so many. US Christians NEED to start making our objection HEARD. NOW before its too late"

"You can put money on it that this will be a wahhabi mosque with most of the money for building and maintaining it coming from Saudi Arabia. It will be another centre like the Regent's Park mosque (Channel 4 undercover mosques The Return) for preaching hatred against us and all we stand for. I have said and written many time before that the Wahhabi version of Islam should be banned as a dangerous brain washing sect that is a danger to our national security and should be banned from the UK."

Meanwhile, further to the right, the Sunday Express report has provoked equally predictable calls for arson attacks on the mosque and those worshipping in it.

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Three men from an anti-Islamic group were arrested on Saturday during a march against plans for a new mosque in Chelmsford.

More than 30 members of the English Defence League waved placards saying "no to radical Islam", while others shouted racial slurs during a rally from the Plough Inn in Duke Street to the High Street.

The controversial right-wing group was marching against plans for a new mosque in Regina Way, Chelmsford, as part of the Waitrose supermarket development.

Police officers surrounded the mob as they reached Superdrug in the High Street and formed a blockade so that they could not go any further. The protest then spilled back towards Shire Hall where it drew crowds of onlookers.

Chairman of the EDL southeast Paul Pitt told the Chronicle: "We are campaigning hard against this mosque and making sure that it does not happen. Chelmsford has just become a city, we do not want to see a mega mosque here."

Three EDL members, none of whom was from Chelmsford, were arrested at 3pm on Saturday on suspicion of committing racially aggravated public order offences.

As the shouting grew and a crowd gathered at Shire Hall, police dragged the rowdiest members down the steps and into their police van, waiting by the Saracen's Head pub. A 35-year-old man from Rochester in Kent, a 19-year-old man from Dagenham and an 18-year-old man from Yateley in Hampshire have been released on bail pending further inquiries.

Mum-of-four Sandra Waller, 59, of Chelmsford, was out shopping when she saw the demonstration. She shouted at the protesters before having a heated stand-off with one of the EDL members.

She told the Chronicle: "It does not matter who you are, we are all human beings. I bet they have never even read the Koran. Everyone has good and bad in them. It should be universal love. It's disgusting that this is even happening in Chelmsford."

After enjoying a few pints in The Plough, the protesters marched down Duke Street just after 2pm shouting obscenities, the majority too offensive to print. In unison, they sang: "You burn our poppy, we burn your mosque."

Greengrocer Paul Matthams, 66, of Chelmsford, said: "Everyone has a different opinion but there are too many immigrants in this country and it costs us money. I have lots of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian friends but it is ridiculous to let so many people in because so many of the natural inhabitants are suffering a great deal. Especially Chelmsford, they keep building new houses and we have not got the road infrastructure. It will only get worse if more people come in."

The mosque proposed for Victoria Road is part of plans Waitrose has put forward to Chelmsford City Council. Muslim Association, Jamaat of Essex plans to build a four-storey community centre in Regina Way, in the place of a small mosque, which had been there for 20 years before being demolished.

The other mosque in Chelmsford, which caters for a different branch of Islam, is based on Moulsham Street, and has reported a growth in its membership in the last few years.

It had already been alerted by the police on Saturday morning that a demo was taking place. A group of young men from that mosque joined the crowd outside Shire Hall to see what was going on.

Sales manager Wasim Akhtar, 25, said: "We were alerted by the police and thought that we would come down to see what was going on. We think it's very poor behaviour. We just wanted to come and see how racist Essex is, but we are impressed with the general public's reaction.

"They are being very supportive to British Muslims. I think that what the EDL are proposing is ridiculous and they don't have any argument. The mosque is not going to affect them – they are just looking for a reaction or more recruits."

Ella Rodriguez, 20, of Chelmsford, said: "It is shameful and there is no need for this type of behaviour. I came up to see what was going on because the street was so crowded. There is no need to be racist, but if you feel that strongly about it, there are better ways to express your opinion."

Chris Dickson, 17, is planning on joining the British Army as an infantry soldier. He said: "Everyone is entitled to their opinion but there are probably better places to do it than in a town centre where there are a lot of different nationalities. I agree with their message."

A 15-year-old boy added: "My friend is Muslim and was here with me when they started shouting abuse at her. She got really upset and has left."

One of the EDL members, who did not wish to be named, said: "We hold these flash mobs to see what reaction we get. Then we will hold a meeting and decide whether to do a demo or not. We have agreed with the police that we won't do one during the Olympics."

Essex Chronicle, 26 July 2012

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