Former Conservative Party co-chairwoman and cabinet minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has resigned the party’s whip in the House of Lords after being subjected to an inquiry for supporting Marieha Hussain, the British Pakistani teacher who was acquitted last week in the court after the “Coconut Placard Trial”.
Lady Warsi, who served in the cabinet during David Cameron’s premiership, said the party no longer resembled the one she represented in government. She was Britain’s first Muslim cabinet minister.She claimed a Conservative Party investigation over alleged “divisive language” was because of her support for Hussain, who was cleared of a racially aggravated public order offence during a pro-Palestine protest in November last year.
Hussain had been photographed holding a placard with Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman surrounded by coconuts.Announcing her resignation in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Baroness Warsi said: “It is with a heavy heart that I have today informed my whip and decided for now to no longer take the Conservative whip. This is a sad day for me. I am a Conservative and [will] remain so but sadly the current party are far removed from the party I joined and served in Cabinet. My decision is a reflection of how far right my party has moved and the hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities. A timely reminder of the issues that I raise in my book Muslims Don’t Matter.”
Warsi wrote she was prompted to resign over comments from some in the Conservative Party over the acquittal of Hussain, who was found not guilty of a racially aggravated public order offence on September 13.
She said: “I will not be gagged on a point of principle. And I am not prepared to play games behind closed doors. If Rishi Sunak’s party wants to retry and replay the ‘coconut trial’ despite the acquittal of Hussain, the clear legal findings and the overwhelming expert witness testimonies then I wish to do so publicly and transparently.
“It would be unfair to do this whilst continuing to take the Conservatives whip. I realise I have the privilege of platform and I have decided to exercise that privilege by speaking truth to power.”
The baroness added that a court of law found Hussain not guilty. “Whatever Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman think of that decision, that is the rule of law and they are not above the law.
“I applaud the court’s decision and judgement of Judge Vanessa Lloyd, the overwhelming evidence of multiple academics and other expert witnesses. It was the right decision and I rightly congratulated Marieha on her acquittal. I was subsequently asked to delete my public support for Marieha — I refused to do so.
“That is the basis of the complaint. No other comments or language is the basis of the complaint. The case was due to be conducted in private behind closed doors, I was not told who the complainant was and this is material considering the detail of bad faith practice the court heard about during the trial. I was also told I could not discuss the matter with others. It was effectively to be a secret retrial of the ‘Coconut Trial’, I was not prepared to accept this.
Source: BBC
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