Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Sam Blewett & Anna MacSwan

Tory activist suspended after saying Labour MP Naz Shah should 'go back to Pakistan'

A Conservative activist has been suspended after telling a Muslim Labour MP to "go back to Pakistan".

The party has launched an investigation after Theodora Dickinson, who formerly worked for Vote Leave, made the comments about shadow minister Naz Shah on social media.

In a now-deleted tweet, she responded to a post in which the Bradford West MP discusses her experience of poverty, saying if "Naz Shah hates this country so much why doesn't she go back to Pakistan?!"

Ms Shah, who was born in Bradford, said: "Over the last few weeks BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities have been coming to terms with the racism they have faced over the years.

"In 2020 to be told to go back to Pakistan, highlights the level of racism that still exists in some quarters of society."

Sign up to get the Mirror's biggest and best stories delivered straight to your inbox at www.mirror.co.uk/email

The Muslim Council of Britain, which has long criticised the Tories' handling of Islamophobia, described the tweet as "blatant racism".

The organisation's secretary general Harun Khan has also accused Ms Dickinson of previously sharing an Islamophobic conspiracy theory after the Christchurch terrorist attack in New Zealand.

"Will this latest blatant racism elicit action?" he said.

"The party must reflect and consider why it chooses to ignore widespread concerns about its institutional Islamophobia - if a truly independent inquiry is not enacted with its recommendations implemented, there will be a drip-feed of these stories for a long time to come."

Meanwhile Baroness Sayeeda Warsi said the episode was symptomatic of the party's "shambolic revolving door system of dealing with racism".

Lady Warsi, a former Conservative Party chair, tweeted: "The Tory suspended this week for saying Muslim MP should go back to Pakistan was someone I raised concerns about over a year ago - I was told then she was suspended.

Naz Shah is the MP for Bradford West (Getty Images)

"This is the @Conservatives shambolic revolving door system of dealing with racism."

Ms Dickinson, who describes herself as a political communications and social media consultant, later apologised for her tweet.

"I fully recognise how offensive it was, which is why I deleted the tweet almost immediately, though of course this does not excuse posting it in the first place," she added.

An independent inquiry into all forms of prejudice within the Conservative Party is currently ongoing.

A party spokeswoman said: "Theodora Dickinson has been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.