Diane Abbott said ‘Refugees are welcome here’ and called on Hackney residents to join her in welcoming refugees at a march next month.
The message given by Ms Abbott at a meeting organised by campaign group Hackney Stand Up to Racism and Fascism last Wednesday evening.
Ms Abbott told Hackney Post it was important that local residents attended the march to maintain Hackney’s “tradition of welcoming refugees into the local community”.
The march, to be held on 19 March, will start at 12pm from Portland Place, before ending in Trafalgar Square where a rally will be held.
Ms Abbott used last Wednesday’s event at the round chapel on Powerscroft Road to discuss the issue of immigration and the EU.
Today, in a Hackney Post exclusive, Abbott said that Boris Johnson was “too intelligent” to seriously believe Brexit was a good idea.
“Refugees are Welcome Here”
She said: “There are a number of progressive reasons to stay in Europe but Cameron’s negotiation isn’t one of them.
“One of the threads in Cameron’s negotiation, and you’re going to hear it more and more as this debate on Europe goes forward, is the issue of migration.
“Cameron is taking a wholly dishonest line on this which we have to be prepared to push back on,” Ms Abbott continued.
“He claimed his negotiations cut food benefits, which is going to stop migrants coming, as if migrants come here for the benefits.”
On 10 February, Hackney Council issued a statement which said: “Hackney has a long history of offering support to refugees.”
They said that although they were working with partner organisations to develop a resettlement programme, it was “unlikely that Hackney will receive any Syrian refugees for resettlement before Phase 2 of the programme, that will start in March 2016”.
Refugees and Islamophobia
Megan Stewart, connections manager at ThamesReach, said she was concerned about the situation facing refugees already living in the UK. She said: “My question is would this help refugees already in the country?”
Speakers at the event also took the opportunity to discuss subjects such as islamophobia and the ineffectiveness of the government’s grassroots counter-terrorism strategy, known as Prevent.
However, one member of the audience took offence at the discussion of islamophobia, calling one panellist a “wanker” and accusing the speakers of scaremongering.
