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1/ Yesterday the Guardian published a story documenting the long history of islamophobia by David Abrahams, a Blair-era Labour donor who is giving money to the party again after a personal request from @Keir_Starmer.
But who is David Abrahams?
THREAD
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/01/keir-starmer-urged-to-return-donations-from-islamophobic-property-developer
But who is David Abrahams?
THREAD
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/01/keir-starmer-urged-to-return-donations-from-islamophobic-property-developer
2/ Abrahams is a millionaire property tycoon with a long history of connections to the Labour Party. His father was the Labour Lord Mayor of Newcastle in the 1980s, and he himself was a councillor in Newcastle in the 70s and 80s.
3/ In 1990 Abrahams was selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Richmond, Yorkshire. However, he was deselected before the 1992 election after it was exposed that he had falsely claimed he was married with a child.
https://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/who+is+david+abrahams/1105647.html
https://www.channel4.com/news/articles/politics/domestic_politics/who+is+david+abrahams/1105647.html
4/ The woman in question admitted 'the whole thing was an elaborate charade to "boost his image".' Abrahams had agreed to provide her and her son accommodation and pay his school fees for a term in return that she pretended to be his wife. A local newspaper uncovered the truth.
5/ It also came to light that Abrahams went by the name of 'David Martin' and had a parallel career as a property developer. He appeared in court charged with illegally evicting a tenant. Local Labour Party members deselected him before he could stand at the '92 election
6/ Abrahams was a major supporter and close ally of Tony Blair during his time as Labour leader. Abrahams donated large sums of money to the Labour Party during this period. At one point he served as Treasurer of Labour Friends of Israel.
7/ In 2007 Abrahams was caught up in a major scandal over donations to Labour that he'd secretly channelled through his builder & secretary. He was cleared of criminal charges but the scandal led to resignation of then Labour General Secretary, Peter Watt http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7113255.stm
8/ Abrahams stopped giving money to Labour after the election of Jeremy Corbyn. But it's a wonder he was ever allowed to donate at all. He has a long history of islamophobic and bigoted statements on social media. https://twitter.com/BenJolly9/status/1333852161504112640?s=20
9/ Here he smears Israel's Arab/Muslim neighbours as terrorists and suicide bombers. His account has now been deleted @DavidAbrahams8 https://twitter.com/__mike91/status/1334022193060204544?s=20
10/ @Keir_Starmer must explain why he personally reached out to a man with a long history of lies, dodgy donations and Islamophobia. The Times reported this was part of Starmer's strategy 'to reduce financial reliance on trade unions.' https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/blair-era-tycoon-backer-david-abrahams-donates-to-labour-again-hh7rv7cqh
End/ @MuslimCouncil & @LabourMuslims have both called on Starmer to reject Abrahams donations. If Starmer really doesn't tolerate islamophobia then Abrahams should also be suspended. It's been nearly 24 hours since this statement and there's been no action https://twitter.com/LabourMuslims/status/1333825110885732353?s=20
