Apsana Begum
 Apsana Begum    (politician) | ||||||||||
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| Born | 25 May 1990 | |||||||||
| Alma mater | Queen Mary University of London | |||||||||
| Member of | Belmarsh Tribunal | |||||||||
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Apsana Begum is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Poplar and Limehouse since 2019. She is Parliament's first hijab-wearing MP.[1]
Background
Apsana Begum completed her education at Queen Mary University of London, where she gained a BA (Hons) in Politics in 2011.
From 2011 to 2013, Begum worked in the role of Executive Support and Admin for Tower Hamlets Council. She was a Workforce Diversity Project Officer for Tower Hamlets Homes from 2014 to 2015, and Equality and Diversity Officer for Queen Mary University of London from 2016 to 2018.
Politics
Apsana Begum was selected to contest the safe Labour seat of Poplar and Limehouse at the UK/General election/2019 having been endorsed by the left-wing group Momentum and nominated from an all-women shortlist.[2]
Begum was subsequently elected as MP for Poplar and Limehouse, beating Conservative Sheun Oke by 28,904 votes.
Julian Assange
On 4 January 2021, Apsana Begum tweeted:
Julian Assange is an international award-winning journalist.
He exposed US war crimes in Iraq & Afghanistan, yet he is the one in maximum security prison.
Today we find out if extradition attempts are successful.
For press freedom & our civil liberties, he should be released.[3]
Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Apsana Begum was one of 11 Labour MPs threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the Stop the War Coalition which questioned the legitimacy of NATO and accused the military alliance of "eastward expansion". All 11 MPs removed their signatures as a result of the threat.[4]
Forde Report
On 20 July 2022, Tribune wrote:
The Forde Report drew attention to the way in which MPs of colour are treated differently in comparison to their white counterparts not just in terms of the level abuse they face, but in terms of ‘the level of instinctive respect’ they are afforded. Just a few weeks ago, Apsana Begum, the first hijab-wearing Muslim MP, and a survivor of domestic abuse, was signed off work by her GP following an alleged campaign of misogynistic abuse in her local party. The Labour leadership failed to intervene. A Labour spokesperson claimed in response to the Forde Report that Keir Starmer is now in control of ‘a party that was out of control’, and has made ‘real progress’ in tackling unacceptable culture. The treatment of Apsana Begum demonstrates that nothing could be further from the truth.[5]
References
This page imported content from Wikipedia on 22 July 2022.Wikipedia is not affiliated with Wikispooks. Original page source here
