Empowering change by making our votes count in the 2024 General Election.

In two days, Britain will go to the polls to vote in a new government that will direct our future for the next 5 years. In 14 years of catastrophic Conservative rule and almost 2 years of enduring the disastrous decision-making of an unelected prime minister, the British people have an opportunity to make our voices heard and send a powerful message to those who are elected to serve us.

Using our votes strategically in Scotland is crucial if we want to save our vital public services from the disastrous policies of the Tories and Labour. Both have concerning manifestos that will drive further NHS contracts into the private sector. Both parties have blood on their hands, accumulated over decades of supporting and engaging in foreign wars in the Middle East and elsewhere. There is a very real risk of further regional escalations in the Middle East that are likely to have disastrous impacts on our economy and global security, if the people of this country fail to use their votes to back the SNP, the only party that will not support arms sales to the Israeli regime. While all parties have their weaknesses, the SNP stood alone very early on in the Gaza genocide, calling for an immediate ceasefire and it has pledged support for an arms embargo on the Israeli regime to prevent further massacres.

Has democracy been working for us with the two party system?

This is a historic moment in the 21^st century, where the risk of world war and global instability has never been greater. The NHS is in crisis, affordable housing (both in the rental and homeowners market) has been in decline, the education system is replete with controversy over inappropriate sex education policies affecting very young children, the economy has been consecutively battered by covid, then the energy crisis and now the cost of living crisis. There have been successive increases to council tax bills and closure of vital local services as many councils struggle to cope. As always, in hard times, racism is a convenient tool to deflect from the real issues. Far right extremism has surged across Britain and Europe. As if things couldn’t get worse, we are witnessing one of the worst war crimes and genocides in modern times, beaming live into our phones on a daily basis. The mass slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent civilians in Gaza by the most cruel forms of digital/ AI warfare, the destruction of essential services to millions of innocent civilian, including babies and children, the demolition of places of worship, the cutting off of essential resources such as food, water, electricity. There have been more bombs dropped per square metre on the tiny Gaza strip than in the entirety of WW2.

A game of divide and conquer

In my lifetime, I’ve lived through the unrelenting Muslim bashing and blatantly open Islamophobia that has been arife in media and politics since the onset of the so called ‘war on terror’ over 23 years ago (a very large part of that during a Labour government). Although I’m sure for millions of Muslims here in the UK and abroad it felt like a war of terror as our loyalty was called into question and increased illicit surveillance through mechanisms like the Prevent programme were rushed in and disproportionately profiled British Muslims. Therefore in 2024, to witness the sort of abhorrent, blatant anti-Muslim hate speeches from senior politicians in both main parties during the last 8 months of this Gaza genocide has been very demoralising and angering. And it’s not just targeted at Muslims. The demonisation of millions of peaceful British people from all backgrounds and races who have dared to call for a stop to the most horrific war crime of the century have been smeared as ‘hate mobs’ by senior politicians in government and there has been a distinct failure to listen to the calls of millions of people who have taken to the streets consistently every month to protest against this ongoing genocide.

Apathy? Is there any point?

There has been a sort of spiralling into apathy and disillusionment over the last 20 years of politics – a steady decline of hope and faith in the system – almost a resignation that this democratic process is broken and with no real prospect for positive change. Over the last 30 years or so power has fluctuated between the two main parties. From the reign of Thatcher, Major, to Blair, Brown and back to the Conservatives with Cameron, May, Johnson, Sunak- it’s been like a game of ping pong between two political parties – that is of course with the exception of the Scottish parliament where SNP broke the mould with an unprecedented landslide in 2007, breaking the decades long stronghold of Labour in the region.

Over this time it has become more difficult to discern between these two major parties and never has that been more evident than Labour’s complete lack of opposition to the Conservative party’s support for Israel’s war crimes in Gaza and our government’s decision to de-fund UNWRA. Some would say Conservative and Labour are two sides of the same coin. On the back of the disillusionment of the political system after years of Blairism and the decline of true socialist values and of course Blair dragging us into the 2003 Iraq war, I recall when Russell Brand was doing the rounds in October 2013 calling for a revolution by abstaining from voting. How did that go? A complete disaster as it led to various celebrities and popular culture figures joining in on that call and encouraging non-engagement with the elections. That resulted in the lowest polling turnouts and a Conservative government for the first time in 10 years. Meanwhile with the assistance of far right elements within the Labour party and the pro Israel lobby, Jeremy Corbyn was brutally smeared and ousted from his leadership position. They did this to a man with an outstanding record of standing against racism and supporting Palestinian rights.

Using your vote will always be a no-regrets option

People have died fighting for the vote. In a world where power is concentrated among the few, it is imperative for those of us privileged enough to be able to live in a country where we have a democratic system, no matter how flawed, to exercise our votes. Of course, it is understandable that a sense of hopelessness can creep in when petitions, protests and international laws are disregarded. Why has our NHS gone from bad to worse under both parties? Why has democracy not worked in places like Pakistan where it was clearly exposed that what they actually have is a military dictatorship disguised as a democratic system and a puppet government beholden to western powers. All this notwithstanding, as conscientious citizens, we must do what we can within our limited abilities to enjoin good and challenge wrongdoing and injustice. When that action is something as risk-free as delivering our votes at the polling stations, it is incumbent upon us to fulfil our civic duties. As Muslims and humanitarians, we believe in striving to do our best and leaving the results to Divine providence.

Giving into hope, not despair

Amidst all the vicarious trauma of witnessing the horrors of a live genocide largely targeting babies, women and children, we have also witnessed the emergence of the best examples of humanity. Millions of people have risen up to take a stand against the war crimes committed by the apartheid Israeli regime. Many have lost their jobs or promotional opportunities, others have resigned like those principled and brave Labour MPs who were so appalled at Starmer’s failure to call for an immediate ceasefire. What does that say for the principles of those like Anas Sarwar who has remained committed under Starmer’s leadership? The lack of challenge and condemnation from Starmer, a man who is a human rights lawyer, when the government withdrew funding to UNWRA for vital life-saving services is unforgivable. To allow the mass slaughter of infants in incubators, doctors, health care workers, the elderly, the disabled, women, children to go unchallenged and to suggest that the Israeli regime’s decision to cut off vital supplies of water, food and electricity were acceptable, is something that will now be immortalised in our political history. Starmer has blood on his hands. The Labour party was dragged into calling for a ceasefire when the First Minister of Scotland, Hamza Yusaf, brought the issue before a parliamentary vote. Even then the Labour party attempted to sabotage the process in parliament. It took the deaths of thousands of long suffering people in a besieged open air concentration camp, before Starmer decided to commit to a ceasefire.

Why should UK foreign policy on Palestine/ Israel matter to the British people?

The wars we sanction and support have ramifications both politically and economically. If we value a rules based order, international human rights laws, and the integrity of legal institutions designed to ensure war crimes are held to account, we must hold our governments to account when there is a concerted effort to undermine this. If we as a society accept the mass killing of babies and children, this will lead to a very dark path of global chaos with more countries mirroring similar atrocities and a complete breakdown in the implementation of international laws. This will put global security and world peace at serious risk. The United Nations was created to ensure the horrors of WW2 are never repeated. Both Labour and Tories have demonstrated that they will always follow the lead of the US regime.

Already efforts are being made to discredit or disregard international legal institutions. The UK government has submitted legal arguments to challenge the ICC prosecution request to issue arrest warrants for Netenyahu and other Israeli offcials in regards to war crimes. This is an appalling attempt to delay the arrest of these war criminals. How can we trust Labour or Conservative, when they apply international law selectively and give no weight to the findings of ISRAELI apartheid by key international human rights organisations or the fact that this rogue state has breached countless UN resolutions and international laws over a span of decades and is now standing trial at the ICJ in the Hague for plausible genocide? Millions of pounds of our UK taxpayers money is being given to this genocidal regime. In 2022, UK defence exports to Israel amounted to £42 million. Despite the ability to divert millions of pounds of taxpayer money to a foreign country, our successive governments, both Tory and Labour have struggled to invest in our own vital public services. Neither party supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel. Only last year, the government issued a policy paper on a roadmap for UK-Israel bilateral relations[1], which makes a  commitment to increased military and trade partnership between the UK and Israel over the next 6 years.

An eye on the bigger picture

A labour government in Scotland will mean no viable voice of opposition in Westminister advocating for Scottish interests. The appalling standards in both main parties has galvanised a movement of independent candidates standing at the elections to provide alternative choices to the British people. No doubt there are many worthy of giving your vote to. For instance, Jeremy Corbyn, Craig Murray and others who were principled enough to resign from Labour on the conviction of their principles. There are also public figures such as journalist and podcaster, Owen Jones who has been a lifelong Labour member, who gave up his membership this year as he found it unconscionable to be a part of a party that has blood on its hands, betrayed its socialist values and has a leader who condoned the starvation of over 2 million people, half of whom are children. And there are many others like him who have turned away from Labour.

How then, can any Muslim possibly vote for the Labour party? What does that say for the Muslims who have remained in this party?

There are many different interests and values held by different demographics in our society and we will be hard pushed to find a party that ticks all the boxes in terms of policies that align fully with key Godly or moral values. It takes substantial work to organise politically, build the right frameworks in a community to establish viable alternative options. This is something to work towards for the 2026 Scottish elections. However, in the immediate short term, the priority must be to ensure Labour’s majority is diminished. This is a very achievable possibility in Scotland if we use our votes strategically and put differences aside to make an effective impact at the ballot box. The only way to avoid the catastrophe of a Scottish labour majority in Scotland is to use your vote for SNP. Any policy concerns and differences on education, public services and other areas can be addressed through lobbying and at local community level. A vote for SNP will provide assurance that Scotland will support international law, the ICC and ICJ rulings and will not blindly support arms sales to Israel to slaughter Gazans in Israeli concentration camps. With Trump likely to take power in the US, the SNP’s position on these foreign policy issues will be more crucial than ever and provide representation at Westminister that will otherwise be non-existent.

Bringing power back to the people

4 July is an opportunity to punish the Labour party for its part in enabling the massacre of over 60000 Palestinians and the mass demolition of Gaza, erasing homes for over 2 million people. It is an opportunity to voice our anger at the months of protests and petitions that were ignored. It is an opportunity to say no to the deep seated racism and Islamophobia that is prevalent in the Labour party. It is a chance to respond to the corruptions exposed in Al-Jazeera’s Labour files that was largely unreported by mainstream media. It is an opportunity to show Labour that we will not reward the brutal smear campaign that unfairly demonised Jeremy Corbyn by the far right within it’s party. By voting SNP, we can ensure these messages reach Labour loud and clear. The assumption in this article is that no one in their right minds will be entertaining the possibility of voting Conservative.

[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/2030-roadmap-for-uk-israel-bilateral-relations/2030-roadmap-for-uk-israel-bilateral-relations