Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has defended his record on tackling Islamophobia, after a senior Newcastle councillor was suspended from the party for alleging a “Muslim plot” was under way.
It emerged last week that Joyce McCarty had asserted in a text message that Muslim councillors in the West End had conspired to have Newcastle City Council leader Nick Forbes deselected earlier this year. Coun McCarty, who served as Coun Forbes’ deputy for more than a decade, has been suspended by Labour pending an investigation and the party says it no longer endorses her at May’s local elections.
However, she remains on the ballot as Labour’s candidate in the Wingrove ward and was seen on the campaign trail after being suspended on March 31. Last month, a report by the Labour Muslim Network (LMN) found that 68% of Muslim Labour supporters did not trust the party's leadership to tackle Islamophobia effectively.
