There can’t be much doubt about the story of the day: the Mail on Sunday’s revelation about a Tory candidate’s bizarre intrigue with the English Defence League.
Afzal Amin, standing for Dudley North constituency, was suspended by the Conservative party after the paper exposed his extraordinary plot. The story then dominated the news agenda on radio and TV and was followed up on news websites
Amin is accused of suggesting to the EDL that it should announce a march against a new mosque in Dudley. Then he would step in, the march would be scrapped, and he would take the credit for defusing the situation.
In return for this favour, Amin allegedly promised that he would be an “unshakeable ally” for the EDL in parliament and help to bring their views to the mainstream.
Amin has strenuously denied that he did anything wrong, but the six-minute tape recording on Mail Online, in which he outlines his scheme, is damning.
He may be correct in saying that his statements were plucked from a much longer conversation. Of course they were. He is missing the point. It is the fact he said them at all that matters.
Even if we were to accept that he was talking about a fantasy rather than a practical proposal, he needs to explain what possessed him to meet the EDL in the first place.
The EDL is a far-right Islamophobic group with a record of violence in Dudley (see here) which has been in decline over the past couple of years.
Amin was selected to stand against the sitting Labour MP, Ian Austin, in the general election on 7 May. With Austin winning Dudley North by just 649 votes in 2010, the seat is regarded as a key marginal.
Anyway, hats off to the Mail on Sunday, a paper that supports the Tory party, for a scoop that embarrasses the Conservatives. It has certainly given prime minister David Cameron one big headache.
Sources: Mail on Sunday/PA via the Guardian/Stourbridge News