False racism claim aimed at teacher 'shocking on political and human level', says Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer has described a false racism claim against a young Black Country teacher which resulted in her being subjected to death threats as “shocking”.
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The Labour leader said those behind a video about the 27-year-old woman canvassing for Labour during the election campaign which claimed she had made a racial slur had serious questions to answer.
The doorbell footage, overlain with subtitles showing the alleged racist words, was shared across a number of social media platforms by solicitor Akhmed Yakoob, who stood as an independent candidate in the West Midlands Mayoral.
Mr Yakoob later shared her name and the name of the school which resulted in her receiving death threats and a barrage of hate, an ordeal which she said had blown her life apart.
West Midlands Police confirmed there was no evidence of any racist language in the footage.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has launched an investigation into Mr Yakoob’s part in the storm after receiving a number of complaints.
Both Sir Keir and Shadow Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner spoke out about the issue during a visit to the Black Country with all the Labour Mayors from around the country to unveil their plan for boosting economic growth across the country.
Of the footage, Sir Keir Starmer said: "It’s completely shocking on a political level and on a human level.
"Nobody should be subjected to that kind of fabrication and everybody who bears any responsibility for this for republishing it should answer some very serious questions about what they thought they were doing. It is a really shocking situation.”
Angela Rayner added: “It’s a really serious issue now. Keir also had a deep fake which somebody had put information out that said Keir had done something he hadn’t done.
“This is a serious part of our democracy and I think all of us as candidates and elected representatives have to be really careful about what we share if it has not been verified.
“We’re seeing that more and more online where people are sharing clips which are actually fake and the truth is that teacher ended up with death threats and ended up in a really serious situation where her life was turned upside down within a matter of hours.
“We all have to have responsibility to make sure we don’t share disinformation and fake news.”
