Rochdale MP Takes Flak for Flying Pakistani Flag Above Town Hall

Danczuk Hopkins AFP Reuters
AFP / Reuters
Oliver JJ Lane

It has been a difficult year for Pakistani men in Rochdale and a number of other English cities. Members of the community have been handed significant jail terms for systematically grooming and raping young children over the course of many years.

Clearly mindful of the upcoming election and the powerful voting bloc that could see him returned to his seat, present Rochdale member of parliament Simon Danczuk took the opportunity last week to celebrate Pakistan day, enjoying a photocall outside town hall with a number of his constituents. He was apparently even involved in having the Pakistani flag flown atop the magnificent millstone grit Victorian town hall. Proudly he posted a photograph of the event on Twitter:

…a fact that did not escape celebrated Twitter troll and occasional Breitbart London contributor Katie Hopkins. She reacted furiously to the celebration of the culture which many have claimed was a direct causal factor in the sex abuse of thousands of children in the United Kingdom. Hopkins immediately leapt into action, demanding of the member of parliament: “What are you playing at @SimonDanczuk? Raising the Pakistani flag in Rochdale?”.

When Danczuk replied, calling Hopkins a “fool”, she replied in kind with a series of tweets calling out Danczuk on his choice of friends and their interactions with the local white community:

The exchange apparently concluded with Hopkins posting a picture of the union flag to Danczuk to remind him of what it looked like, which was the end of it until the weekend. When a constituent noticed Danczuk following hardcore-porn sites on Twitter, he initially denied it had been a deliberate move and blamed a faulty iPhone, before admitting on Sunday to enjoying porn, a habit his wife apparently supports.

It was at this point the spat surfaced again, as spokesman for Danczuk said they had reported Hopkins to the police for “inciting racial hatred”, a move that has captured the headlines this morning.

The Guardian reports the comments of Danczuk on the spat, who said: “I don’t think we should beat about the bush here, Katie Hopkins is inciting racial hatred.

“Rochdale has a proud history of coming together to mark special days in different cultures, from St Patrick’s Day to the Ukrainian Holodomor, and our town will not take any lessons from Katie Hopkins on community cohesion. She has waded into something she doesn’t understand and her ignorance is extremely dangerous.”

Alluding to the publicity surrounding Danczuk’s porn habit and the police complaint being made almost a week after the fact, Hopkins simply tweeted:

No doubt, more will follow.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.