Labour's Tracy Brabin has been accused of snubbing the Muslim community in West Yorkshire after she pulled out of a mayoral hustings. Brabin is standing as Labour's candidate for the new post of West Yorkshire regional mayor. On Wednesday she was due to take part in a debate on the British Muslim TV channel, but after the event was moved from Wakefield to Bradford, she pulled out at the last minute. Compared to Wakefield, Bradford is just over a mile further away from Brabin's native Batley. The host of the event, Mohammed Shafiq, was clearly incensed and let rip on Twitter.
A spokesperson for British Muslim TV said that all five participants were emailed about the change of venue 24 hours prior to the event. However, a spokesperson for Brabin claimed that the venue was changed 'at the last minute'. Clearly rattled, the spokesperson told YorkshireLive: "Mr Shafiq’s claims are a complete misrepresentation of the truth. Tracy was happy to attend. However, British Muslim TV’s last minute changes to the venue, format and timings due to 'health and safety risks' - and a reluctance to confirm the new venue would be Covid secure - meant Tracy was unable to attend in person. Tracy offered to attend by video - as she has with many other media and community events - and was very disappointed that they couldn’t accommodate this".
Despite the setback, Brabin can be fairly certain of victory in May. The West Yorkshire region is mostly Labour territory and includes the solid Labour cities of Bradford, Leeds and Wakefield. However, what will certainly rile some activists is the fact that she is already an MP and - like Dan 'Two Jobs' Jarvis in neighbouring South Yorkshire - she has no intention of standing down from Westminster.
At a time of mass unemployment, the fact that after May there could be two Labour MPs also operating as regional mayors is nothing short of a disgrace. In addition to his basic £81,932 salary as an MP, Jarvis picks up an additional £79,000 as the Mayor of the Sheffield City Region. Those figures do not include allowances and expenses. If Brabin becomes Mayor of West Yorkshire she will earn a whopping £105,000 salary in addition to her MP's salary.
Labour's woke metropolitan MPs have long forsaken the working classes and are now only interested in making as much money as possible. Shameful.
