Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer is failing to win support among British Muslims, a new poll shows.
The research, commissioned by the Labour Muslim Network, found most Muslims in the UK support his party but the majority do not back Mr Starmer as leader.
The poll of 504 respondents across the UK found Mr Starmer had a net favourability rating of -7 per cent even though 53 per cent of those asked said they supported the party during the last election.
It comes before the Batley and Spen by-election in England on July 1. The contest is regarded as another test of Mr Starmer's leadership after the party suffered heavy defeats in May elections.
More than a fifth of voters in the West Yorkshire seat are Muslim, according to 2011 census data. The seat was formerly held by murdered MP Jo Cox and is being contested by her sister Kim Leadbeater for Labour.
According to the poll results, 53 per cent of respondents said they voted Labour in the last election, compared with 11 per cent of respondents who said they cast their ballot for the Conservative Party.
Asked to rate Mr Starmer’s leadership from “strongly favourably” to “have not heard of'', 22 per cent of voters viewed the London-based politician favourably, compared with 29 per cent who viewed him unfavourably, giving a net favourability rating of -7 per cent.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson fared worse in the poll, with a net favourability rating of -32 per cent.
Most respondents said they identified with the Labour Party (72 per cent) rather than the Conservatives (9 per cent).
However, support for Labour has fallen, according to the poll, with its majority over the Conservatives shrinking by 11 per cent since the 2019 general election.
A Labour Party spokesman, commenting on the results, said: “The Labour Party is committed to a strong relationship with the Muslim community, and in our pursuit of building a better, fairer, more secure future for all, we will continue to robustly stand up for the rights of Muslims everywhere.”
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
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Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
