British Muslims have “begun to leave the UK after Boris Johnson won the election” according to the alarmist headlines of a journalist writing for a major newspaper — without offering hard evidence of the assertion.
Writing for the Metro, a once fairly neutral but increasingly left-biased newspaper distributed for free on public transport throughout Britain, Basit Mahmood claimed that British Muslims “have started the process of leaving the UK over fears for their ‘personal safety’ now Boris Johnson is Prime Minister for five years”. The story was widely shared on social media by those expressing anger at the Conservative landslide victory.
However, the article only actually mentions discussions between the online wing of Metro and two people — neither of whom have actually left the country.
Manzoor Ali, a Muslim charity boss who has previously branded Prime Minister Johnson “nothing but a liar, a conman and a racist” who has “lied to this country time and time again”, “offended Muslims”, and “lied to this nation for votes to leave [the European Union]” on social media, told the Metro he is now “scared for [his] personal safety [and] children’s future”.
As the Metro describes it, “his family are in agreement that they should move to ensure their safety” — but it seems there have been no concrete steps towards actually realising that goal.
In terms of destinations, it appears that Mr Ali is not considering a move to a majority-Muslim country, but New Zealand, which “appealed to him, given the humane and compassionate manner in which the prime minister of the country, Jacinda Ardern handled the aftermath of the Christchurch mosque shootings”.
The Metro only interviewed one other British Muslim for the article — a committed Jeremy Corbyn supporter who tweeted “I find myself sitting in my room singing ‘oh Jeremy Corbyn, Oh Jeremy Corbyn’ he is always going to be my prime minister! #notmygovernment #Corbynistas” in the wake of the election — who, again, merely said that she has “started looking for jobs elsewhere, maybe Turkey, maybe Pakistan.”
Beyond that, all Basit Mahmood presents as evidence for his claim that “A number of British Muslims have begun to leave the UK after Boris Johnson won the election” is a couple of tweets embedded in his article which suggest people unhappy with the election result are “considering my options” etc.
It may be that the article was simply meant as a counterweight to the very real evidence that a large percentage of British Jews planned to leave Britain if Jeremy Corbyn was elected, given his relationship with terror groups like Hamas and Hezbollah and the antisemitism rife within his party — or the article may have been intended to elicit provocative responses on social media, which could themselves become the basis for future articles on the supposed menace of right-wing trolls.
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