British Conservative MP Crispin Blunt has apologised for the “significant upset and concern” caused by his defence of colleague Imran Ahmed Khan, who was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy.
He also resigned from his position as chair of the LGBTQ+ parliamentary group.
Former justice minister Mr Blunt removed a post from his website and Twitter feed in which he had claimed Khan was the victim of a “dreadful miscarriage of justice” after he was found guilty on Monday of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy in 2008.
In a statement, Mr Blunt said he had decided to retract his statement, that he did not “condone any form of abuse”, and believed in the “independence and integrity of the justice system".
Khan was thrown out of the Conservatives after the verdict, and Mr Blunt was under pressure from the party hierarchy to withdraw his initial statement.
He also offered his resignation as chairman of an all-party parliamentary group on LGBT+ issues following protests from MPs about his comments.
The retraction follows a statement published on Mr Blunt's website on Monday which described the jury's decision in Khan's case as “nothing short of an international scandal".
A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London took about five hours to find Khan, 48, guilty of sexually assaulting a minor in 2008. The victim is now 29.
The court heard how Khan, a Muslim who was elected to parliament in 2019, forced the boy to drink gin and tonic before the attack at a house in Staffordshire in January 2008.
Khan was a visitor at the boy's family home for a party.
But Mr Blunt, who was at the London court on Monday, had said the case “relied on lazy tropes about LGBT+ people” and argued the result had “dreadful wider implications” for LGBT+ people and Muslims “around the world".
“I am utterly appalled and distraught at the dreadful miscarriage of justice that has befallen my friend and colleague Imran Ahmad Khan, MP for Wakefield since December 2019,” Mr Blunt said.
Khan's legal team said he planned to appeal against the conviction.
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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1,942 teams
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26 UAE teams
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How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
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Titan Sports Academy:
Programmes: Judo, wrestling, kick-boxing, muay thai, taekwondo and various summer camps
Location: Inside Abu Dhabi City Golf Club, Al Mushrif, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Telephone: 971 50 220 0326
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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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China |
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UAE |
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Japan |
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Norway |
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Canada |
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The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
