Independent political movements can successfully challenge established parties by combining identity-based grievances with local governance issues, as demonstrated by Akhmed Yakoob's independent alliance in Birmingham, which won 13 council seats in May 2024 by blending pro-Palestine messaging with anti-establishment politics and socially conservative positions, thereby breaking traditional political patterns and attracting voters frustrated with mainstream parties.
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Islamists Taking Over Uk Politics? | Samara GillAdded:
Well, he's a barristister, Tik Tocker, and leader of an independent alliance shaping Birmingham. Akmed Jakub is now part of this growing movement. Yakub's alliance won 13 council seats in the May the 7th local elections inflicting real damage on labor and surpassing the Greens at a local level by focusing on issues like Gaza alongside bin collection.
>> Alhamdulillah honored to have brother Abdul Wah and his support behind Noshin Khaled and Shut Mahmud. Alhamdulillah, this is a movement that is only going to grow. Alamra, inshallah, we're going to win. Everyone come out in number 7th of May. But more importantly, up until then, come to this campaign office if you want to volunteer.
>> Yakub's alliance faced backlash after he put convicted terrorist Shahid Butt, who advocated for kicking people's teeth in in one of his candidacy positions in Spark Hill. Allah says in the Quran, do not take the Jews or Christians as your friends and protectors. People say, "Oh, what you say? We can't make friends."
You understand the verse. Understand the context. Allah is telling you that these people, the disbelievers will never be satisfied with you. No matter how much you bend over for them, they will never ever be satisfied. So stick with your dean. Stick with with the Muslims. And for good or for worse, hold your ground.
Yep. A key point of difference for Yakub is that his candidates do not align themselves with the trans ideology that parties like the Greens and even the your party represent. He actually defected from his alliance to the your party for this very issue.
>> Have a look at that and make your own mind up about this.
>> You are community.
There are a couple of facts that I can give you from the video. It's daylight.
Daylight in Trafalga Square and I am sure there are children in the crowd.
This is something that I wouldn't want my children to be exposed to. This is not a private members club and it's not nighttime, it's daylight. So this is the Green Party leader and these are some of the things and some of the policies that I speak about that we are against that we cannot align with. People with children cannot align with. Remember that >> what makes a cube politically interesting is that his appeal cuts across two seemingly contradictory currents. On one hand, he has mobilized Muslim voters who are furious over Gaza and Palestine, with polling showing that the conflict has become one of the single biggest drivers of voting behavior among British Muslims, especially in cities such as Birmingham.
>> 6th of November, it's game over for Macabi, Tel Aviv, and Israel. Protesters are coming from all over the UK peacefully. We're going to protest with our families and let people know the frustration that we have. Israel should not be in FIFA. There's over 30 organizations that are involved and the numbers are going to be huge.
Absolutely. My message to those right-wing extremists and the barbaric Israeli supporters who are supporting Mugabi Tel Aviv that the city of Birmingham and moreover Aston is the home of lions. liars and we will not just remain silent when genocidal complicits come in and play football in our city. Remember that. I urge all the youth to be peaceful and not to cover their faces on that day. We want to send a clear message of peace and justice.
>> Birmingham is united against Israel.
Okay. Game over for Israel on 6th of November.
>> Remember that.
>> Game over.
>> Game over.
On the other hand, he has also tapped into a broader socially conservative anti-liberal mood with Reform UK winning big in Birmingham, skepticism towards establishment politics, anger over council incompetence, opposition to progressive identity politics, and frustration with what many workingclass voters see as detached metropolitan elites. The Labour RIP strikes again. A committee that was put forward to investigate the vetting process of Kastama in handling Peter Mandel, the person who was named in the Epstein files. The Epstein files, for those of you who don't know, is a pedophile ring in which the accusations are that they sexually assaulted children. And some accusations even say that they ate children. That's what the Epstein party is about and that's who Labour are protecting. The MPs voted against this motion and no labor from Birmingham voted for it. The Labour whip will never ever defy Kiaama. They will do what he says. Remember that. Part of me thinks, isn't this just the changing face of British politics as a new hybrid coalition emerging in Britain's inner cities as culturally conservative, deeply distrustful of labor, and increasingly willing to back outsider candidates, those like Yakub's independent alliance who mix populism, religion, and community politics all through social media and celebrity.
Yakub with his tick- tock ready sort of swagger and courtroom theatrics being a barristister has understood before most politicians that modern political influence is no longer built through party machines but through identity grievance and visibility which he does very well. Whether Britain's political class likes it or not, that formula is starting to win votes and win big. I interviewed him prior to his election win up in Birmingham to see what his vision was for his constituency and to ask him about the litany of controversies that were facing him and still do.
Akmed Jakub, man of the moment. I mean, well, you're all over social media. Uh, it looks like you're running. What did you just tell me? 60 people. Uh yeah, so far elections.
>> Yeah, so far we've got an agreement uh for 64 candidates at the moment.
>> And we're hoping uh to get over 20 elected in the next upcoming elections.
The elections are in May, May the 7th.
And we just want to make a change really from the traditional politics that has been shaping Birmingham and the West Midlands for decades. In this part of the country, it's labor and there's a lot of nepotism here where you the voters will be told you're going to vote for this person and the whole family will go and vote for them. I've broke that tradition now. Uh, and I broke it last year, not last year, sorry, in 2024 in May when I stood for the mayoral election, West Midland's mayoral election, and I received 69,921 votes. That has never happened in political history in the United Kingdom as an independent candidate. So, I single-handedly beat the Greens Party, the Reform Party, the Liberal Democrats, >> right? I only lost to the tries and labor at that at my first election. I broke that tradition.
>> What do you really hate about K Dharma and the Labour party? What's your main sort of affliction with them?
>> What's it to like about them?
>> But I'll start uh K Dharma said first of all uh I mean I wasn't into politics. If you go back two or three years I wasn't involved in politics at all.
>> Well, it's an interesting move. You're a very successful barrista. You're a businessman. You had a lot going for you. Why did you even kind of choose to enter into the political power?
>> Because I got fed up. I got fed up with the way our cities were run. Our people were treated. The inner city areas of Birmingham totally neglected. You call an ambulance to where you are now and say you've got chest pains. They may take 30 minutes to 45 minutes. The patient might die by the time they come. If you go into a different area, little Aston for example, you found the ambulance there, they will be in 15 minutes, there's a big neglect in the inner city areas of Birmingham. I don't live here anymore, but I care because I used to live here at one point and my families are here, my friends are here, I grew up here. Um my very first encounter with the Labour Party was when I saw an interview uh when Kama said that it was okay for Israel to starve the Palestinians uh of water any aid. So complete aid blockage uh in Gaza. Now when I saw that I thought how can a human being be okay with other human beings starving children? It didn't sit right with me.
Uh there was a motion that took place in November 2023 in the House of Commons.
The motion was from uh the Scottish National Party, the SNP. Uh and the motion was to stop um aid from the UK going to Israel >> at the time of the genocide or something along them lines. And a local MP Shabban Mammud abstained from that vote. M >> that was the trigger in my life to come into politics.
>> A lot of people are saying you are the pro Gaza MPs. You run on the proa ticket. What would you say to that?
Because I can understand where they are coming from. It seems like you're sort of standing up for a country that's a million miles away's interests over Britain's. Would you what would you say to that?
>> Couple of things. Um there are politicians in the United Kingdom currently who are current members of parliament and they put the interests of Israel before they do the United Kingdom. So that that's a starting point for some politicians. For me the starting point is always local politics first.
Now, one thing is for sure that Gaza woke a lot of people up, including myself. I wasn't involved in politics before the whole Gaza situation. So, in a sense, they are right because I wouldn't be involved in politics if Shabban Mammoon didn't abstain from voting in that November 2023 vote >> and that vote was to do with Gaza. So in a sense they are right but we always put Britain first unlike some people some elected members of parliament they put Israel first. You can ask them that >> the Gaza situation is so contentious even just today we've got thousands of people protesting on the streets about it. Do you think that we spend too much time talking about what's going on in Gaza and we should focus our attention on what's going on here?
There can never be too much time spent uh talking about people when innocent lives are being lost, when children are being starved, when people are living in aparttheide, when people are living under occupation. You know there's we can spend as much time as we want talking about those people. Those people need a support. Those people need us to raise awareness for them. Look, injustice anyway is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King said that. He's a great man. When I see someone hit, I like to talk about it. If I can't stop it physically, I like to talk about it to let people know my views. And that could be someone on the street hit here or that could be thousands of miles away in Gaza, in Palestine. I will speak up if I see someone hit or someone uh in trouble or, you know, living under occupation. What would you say to people who think that you're an opportunist and you're sort of an individual who's trying to capitalize on uh what's going on in Gaza? Get seats here and almost get this what they're calling some people on the internet like an Islamic wave uh of politicians in this country. People who basically put Islam first and other things second.
No, look, it's nothing to do with being an opportunist myself. I had a very I still have, alhamdulillah, with the help of Allah, with the help of God, I've got a very com comfortable life, I could retire today if I wanted to go away to a different country and retire with my family. For me not to do that, for me to continue to stay here, to go out in the street and protest, to campaign for elections, now campaigning for other people's elections, it shows that I am the total opposite of a opportunist.
>> Well, McCabi Tel Aviv, let's get into that cuz there's been a lot of drama.
Obviously, we've had a sort sort of the crime commissioner actually had to retire over what had happened.
>> The chief constable.
>> Yes. Yes. The chief constable.
>> He he had to retire. There was massive drama over all of that. You were very much involved in getting that through.
How are you feeling now? I mean, it's the aftermath.
>> Getting what through? Sorry.
>> Well, the actual petition to then stop that and inform the police's decision for West Midland's police.
>> Okay. So, let me tell you what happened.
>> I had Jeremy Corbyn sign on to that who I don't even know what he has to do with what's happening over here, but anyway, shows just >> he's a man that cares, isn't Jeremy is a man that cares.
>> Well, yeah, sure. But look the Makabi Tel Aviv there a group of hooligans the fans I'm talking about who caused I'm not making this up who caused mayhem in Amsterdam a few months prior to them coming into Birmingham. Well, they didn't come into Birmingham when they planned visit was they were going around uh on a Muslim hunt in Amsterdam and shouting phrases like ole o there are no schools left in Gaza because all the children are dead, death to all the Arabs. They were going around saying phrases like that. So, I stand by the decision made by Craig Guilford. uh and I still feel that it was the right decision. Whatever happened in the background, why did this decision was made that's between Craig and uh central government. One thing I know the central government should not be getting involved when a chief constable makes a decision. The chief constable should be autonomous. We are living in a democracy. We're not living in a dictatorship. How can the central government pressure a a chief constable into retirement? That's ridiculous.
That's something that happens in Yemen.
>> Places like Yemen.
>> Well, Shabban Mammud's actually made it so that she can sack whoever the chief constible is.
>> Isn't that Isn't that already dictated?
>> Very dictatorial, which is interesting.
And we were talking a little bit before about how, you know, some of the reform policies and your policies for your independence do meet. Would there ever be a reform alliance? What do you think of Nigel Farage? What's your kind of outlook on him?
>> Look, Nigel Farage, I've never had any personal dealings with him. My colleague Shaquille Aar had a debate with him, a live debate, and he did sort of put him in his place about a film that was released and some protests that took place in Birmingham. Nigel, I feel, is against Muslims as a whole. He does try to sugarcoat it as much as he can, but he gives it away.
>> But he's putting a Muslim mayor mayoral candidate up in London. He's got Zia Ysef as the policy maker. You know, he's got a lot.
>> See, look, there are Have Have you seen the movie Django?
>> Yes.
>> Yeah. There will be sellouts amongst.
>> So you're calling the use of a sellout >> amongst uh us that will abide by whatever their masters say uh just to please their masters and they will actually sell out members of their own community. For one example is Sajid Javad. These people are are called some of these people uh are the result of too much education when they could turn around and say uh if my mom and dad come into the UK today I wouldn't allow them. So this is a result of overeducation. I would say if you can say to your mom and dad that you wouldn't be allowed here now, uh it's very django like.
>> Are you saying that people should be essentially putting their community first over the country because a lot of the speak that's happened today is all about kind of how the community in the community and you're basically talking about the Muslim community within Birmingham. No.
>> When you're talking about people selling out, are you talking about people like Zia Ysef and Leila Cunningham uh betraying their Muslim community?
>> Look, I'm not going to name drop anyone, but for people to openly go against their own communities to appease their puppet masters, they are sellouts. And when I say communities, I mean Birmingham as a whole. Every single resident in Birmingham is part of my community. I advocate for everyone and it's not just the Muslims in the inner city areas that are neglected. It's the normal working white class man as well and woman. You go and speak to them, they will feel neglected. Look, I could easily join a party like Reform or whatever, not even reform, whatever party it is, I could easily join and get a good position. I just have to say a few certain things to fit the narrative.
I know how it's like but I cannot go against my people, my community, the people of Birmingham, the people of West Midlands. I can't do it. Uh it's one of them things. And if you look at it in a way that look I am in the 1% in terms of earning probably uh if you look at it but I spend most of my time with people who are suffering people who are neglected people who are looking for jobs at food banks with charities. It humbles you. You realize that God's given you something and you must save your own people. You must save the community. You must save people who have less than you. Uh, that's my mindset. I want to do good things.
>> I get that. But when you say that, I just think of that video that you posted on Tik Tok where you were showing where where you were showing people how to hide a baseball bat in their car. Have a bat in your car, but you can't demonstrate that you have a sporting event. You can get into trouble with the police and the prosecution and see yourself in court for possession of an offensive weapon. So if you do have a baseball bat for example for a sporting event then make sure it is clear and you have other equipment with it as well.
Otherwise it will be difficult for you to show that you have a reasonable excuse to have this but always remember there's a defense for every offense.
>> The baseball bat >> right before the MacBook.
>> Let's not get the baseball bat out right now in front of a journalist. What are we going to say what was on the video.
Okay, on the video was, "Have you got a baseball bat in your car for sporting reasons?"
>> Wink wink nudge nudge.
>> That's how the video started off. And that video, >> you play baseball.
>> Let me tell you that video derived from someone who does play baseball who was arrested. A bat was found in their car, but they couldn't prove that they played baseball and they were convicted.
>> I don't believe so.
>> So that's your opinion, Samara.
>> Right. Right when Jews were going to come into Birmingham, you were doing tutorials on how how to hide a baseball bat in your car or how to pretend that you were a sporting person.
>> No, I didn't pretend I was a sporting person. I did it on >> That's your son. Does he play baseball?
I did on behalf I did on behalf of people who play baseball and that video was posted weeks before the match. That video was >> this is around the time when I was very contentious >> weeks before the match. But that video was posted when the fans had already been banned. So there were no Jews that were going to come to Birmingham Samar.
>> So this was about the Jews.
>> No, you just said it. You you said that it was right before the Jews came. But if you if you want to think look at it from your perspective, it was before and it was when the ban had already been imposed.
>> Were you happy that the Jewish fans were put in cages to watch the match?
>> Who was in cages?
>> The McCabby Tel Aviv fans. They were put in cages.
>> No, I tell you, >> there were a couple of them. Remember, >> let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. I could take you down the Nomara. It's not far. It's a baseball court and they were not watching the match. They came for a counter protest.
They came to counter protest our protest that was taking place. Okay. So, and the police gave them a spot in which their protest could take place. And that protest happened to be where baseball courts were. And they were baseball courts. There were no cages there. There were makeshift cages made for the Jews.
>> No, there was nothing like that. It was not.
>> It was for the Jews to protect them.
That's what the >> No, the police the police were there to protect a few counterprotesters. And they weren't just Jews. There were other people of other faiths kind of protesting as well.
>> So the baseball video which is now quite infamous that was about sports.
>> Of course it was about it was about baseball and other sports as well. Could be cricket as well.
>> Okay.
>> You could have a cricket bat but if you don't have the correct uh paraphernia you could call it or other equipment to show that you actually going to a cricket match then you could get into trouble.
>> When was the last time you played baseball? Just out of interest.
>> I don't play baseball. It was wasn't for me. Like I said, that video derived from someone who' been arrested with a baseball bat.
>> It's a really It's just It's interesting.
>> Yeah, it's interesting, but it's the truth.
>> Well, what are your aspirations for this upcoming election?
>> Uh you, as we spoke about, you got a lot of candidates running. I think that you will have quite a fair bit of success.
There's definitely a lot of people that can get behind you. I think Labor has completely um destroyed themselves uh internally and as we spoke about earlier the conservatives are just not there. I think it will be really reform and then independent parties.
>> What's the goal?
>> I think I am behind that's without sounding bigheaded or anything like that. I think I am behind breaking Labour's vote bank in the West Midlands and I did it okay as when I stood I was stood as an independent and I stood alone but I had the support of a lot of people with me and that we change the dynamics of West Midlands politics and I started off the independent movement. I was I was the very first person if you go back to my old videos to announce that I was going to stand as an independent candidate. So I was the very first person I was the pioneer of this independent movement Samara believe you or not. So we've uh managed to come this far and now we are going to of course change the political spectrum in Birmingham properly. So we've come under a organization called the independent candidate alliance >> and we are fielding candidates in over 60 uh wards all across Birmingham and we're hoping to get over 20 counselors elected and once elected then we can make proper decisions and we can make sure that funds are not mismanaged but like they have been by the labor council for decades uh and been spent on vanity projects for decades.
>> Where would you put funding? Would you put it into I mean a lot of your independent candidates are Muslim. Would you put it into mosques? Would you put it into community centers? Would you where would you put the funding? Our youth are the main goal here. The youth waking the youth up politically. Waking the youth up and allowing them a a opportunity to be part of democracy.
Letting them know that these mainstream political parties are not for us. uh these political elites are not for us and you know child poverty is a huge issue in Birmingham. So that's what my focus is on really.
>> Yeah.
>> Helping the youth.
>> Fair. You're not going to use funds to buy any more Lamborghinis or anything like that.
>> I've got plenty of my own money to do that.
>> Fair. This is just a passion project for you.
>> This is something to do. Look, you know, when you do things for others, it's like the rent that you pay uh for being here.
The rent you pay uh for to God. That's that's what it is. Service to others.
That's what it is. That's why we're here. You know, anybody can do things for themselves. You know, I I could feed my own family. I could fe feed a few people around me. It's not enough. We need to try to make a real change. And you know, people like me are going to be spoken about. Don't worry, it's tomorrow.
>> You already are. That's the uh that's the great Amedic Cube. Everyone, thank you so much for watching.
>> Thank you.
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