42,000 people sign petition urging Labour MP to resign after tweeting victims of grooming gangs should be quiet
MORE than 42,000 people have called on a prominent Labour MP to resign after she called on victims of Asian sex abuse gangs to keep quiet "for diversity".
The Sun revealed last week that Naz Shah retweeted and "liked" a post on Twitter that said: "Those abused girls in Rotherham and elsewhere just need to shut their mouths. For the good of diversity."
Ms Shah, a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn, later "unliked" and deleted the tweet from an account that parodies left-wing writer Owen Jones and a spokesman for her claimed it was an “accident”.
But 42,623 people have now signed an online petition demanding the former key aide to Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, resigns - or that Jeremy Corbyn fires her.
The petition on Change.org says her actions "would have caused a significant amount of offence and distress" to victims of sexual abuse.
The Bradford West MP was blasted for her comments at the time by Equality and Human Rights Commission chief Rebecca Hilsenrath. She said: "Ms Shah should know better. We need to keep the victims of these horrific crimes at the heart of the debate. Diversity is not served by silence."
While Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries tweeted: “I was one of the first MPs to ever use Twitter. You don’t retweet AND like by accident - we know how you feel and care for the abused girls. Go now.”
Tory MP Andrew Bridgen said: "This shows what Naz Shah really thinks and Jeremy Corbyn says nothing, which says it all."
Ms Shah led the recent furore against a Sun column by Trevor Kavanagh which addressed the scandal of sex abuse gangs after 17 Asian men were sentenced for sexually exploiting white girls in Newcastle.
The British-born Muslim MP accused Mr Kavanagh of using "Nazi-like terminology" and she organised an open letter to The Sun signed by 107 MPs demanding action.
Ms Shah, who served on the influential House of Commons Home Affairs Committee, said The Sun’s piece was “irresponsible” and that it set “a dangerous precedent.” Last year she was suspended by Labour over anti-Semitic online posts.
In one, she shared rants on Facebook calling for Israel to be uprooted and dumped in America. In another she likened Israeli policies to those of Hitler and also wrote: “The Jews are rallying.” She later blamed her anti-Semitism on “ignorance”.
Her office did not respond to The Sun’s request for comment on the petition.
