Rushanara Ali: where have you been?

LABOUR’S official candidate for Bethnal Green & Bow, Rushanara Ali, seems to be suffering from “May’s disease” – a distaste for appearing on TV alongside her main rival.

This is Ms Ali’s third General Election as a candidate, but knowing the ropes has not left her with a willingness to showcase her talents in public. Local broadcaster LB24TV has confirmed that it invited Ms Ali to appear in a General Election Special – either debating independent candidate Ajmal Masroor, her main contender, or on her own. Ms Ali did not accept either invitation.

East London News asked Ms Ali why she had not accepted the invitation – but, like many of her constituents, we are waiting for a reply to our questions.

Ajmal Masroor was more forthcoming, explaining, “I received an invitation from LB24TV to appear on their General Election debate series. The idea was that I would appear in the same programme as Rushanara Ali, with other candidates, debating the pressing issues in the programmes. LB24TV has now told me that Rushanara has not accepted the invitation to appear on a programmme with me. Theresa May has refused to debate with Jeremy Corbyn on TV – I didn’t think Rushanara would follow in her footsteps!”

Ajmal continued, “It is firmly in the public interest for voters to hear from those seeking election and we want to give voters the chance to ask politicians their own questions. The people of Bethnal Green and Bow want to know, where has Rushanara been the past seven years? What has she done for her constituents? Why has she ignored 73% of people who wrote to her last year?

“In light of the glaring revelation that Rushanara is amongst the bottom 2% of MPs in responsiveness to constituents, coupled with the fact that she’s had the second highest expenses of all London MP’s in 2015/2016, voters must be given the chance to ask Rushanara: ‘where has the money gone?’”

Ajmal explained that he endorses the official Labour manifesto and is keen to see whether Rushanara endorses it too. He is still hoping that she will debate with him and answer questions in a public forum before polling day.

•Watch LB24 tv‘s #FacebookLIVE General Election 2017 special at 9.30pm tonight, Monday. #GE2017

•Read more about it:
https://eastlondonnews.co.uk/rushanara-named-as-brexit-rebel/
https://eastlondonnews.co.uk/rushanara-tells-ajmal-get-off-my-turf/
https://eastlondonnews.co.uk/no-comment-from-rebel-local-mp-rushanara-ali/

Full List of Candidates in the Bethnal Green & Bow constituency, General Election 2017
Ali, Rushanara – Labour Party
Chirico, Charlotte – The Conservative Party Candidate
de Wulverton, Ian – UK Independence Party (UKIP)
Dyer, William Peter Henry – Liberal Democrat
Masroor, Ajmal – Independent
Polson, Alistair – Green Party

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