Old habits die hard — Somali Brits

In 2005, the out-going Prime Minister of the UK wrote in the Spectator that Islamophobia is a ‘natural reaction’ to Islam. More recently he likened Muslim women who wear the burqa to letterboxes and has since refused to give an apology. For many Muslims in the UK, it is abundantly clear that the Conservative Party tolerates Islamophobia and has been accused by Muslim leaders of bigotry for allowing such comments to go unchecked. The entrenched anti-Islamic rhetoric from the Conservative Party is enough to shoo many Muslim voters away into the lap of the Labour party.

Though it is clear as to why we DON’T vote right, it is not entirely clear as to why we continuously vote left.

Given the clear fundamental differences between left wing ideology and Islam, it isn’t clear as to why Somali Brits are fixated on voting left. Once we brush past the inclusive liberal language you find under the surface stark contradictions between the principles that underpin left wing ideologies and Islam/Somali culture. So why do we continue leaning left? I would argue, it is a result of our emotional reactionary behaviour to socio-political events over the past decade or so. The rise of EDL (English defence league) and the notoriety of individuals like Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson, to name a few. The frustrations we witnessed during the Brexit campaign and the clear dislike for…