THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Karen Buck, the shadow work and pensions minister, has launched an outspoken attack on the Government, claiming that Tories do not want Muslims in central London.The Labour frontbencher said controversial plans to cut housing benefit were designed to force “black women, ethnic minority women and Muslim women” out into the capital’s poorer suburbs.
Her comments immediately prompted calls for her dismissal. Baroness Warsi, Conservative Party Chairman and Britain's first Muslim Cabinet minister, described them as “deeply offensive”.
Ms Buck, who was speaking at a public meeting in Islington, north London, also accused the Tories of being “deeply hostile” to the idea of lower income families having children, according to the Independent.
In comments that will raise alarm within the Labour leadership, she said: "(The Government) do not want lower-income women, families, children and, above all, let us be very clear – because we also know where the impact is hitting – they don't want black women, they don't want ethnic minority women and they don't want Muslim women living in central London.
“They just don't. They want people to be moving out of anywhere that is a more prosperous area into the fringes of London and into places like Barking and Newham. I have nothing against Barking and Newham. The problem is they are already full of people who are quite poor." » | Victoria Ward | Thursday, March 17, 2011
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Karen Buck profile: former council worker who rose to Labour front bench – Karen Buck was elected to parliament in 1997 through a controversial all-woman shortlist. » | Victoria Ward | Thursday, March 17, 2011
