Breaking News: The Sunday Times has discovered that Azad Ali is back at work and naturally decided to re-run an old story.
This time the new revelation is that Azad Ali sat or sits on an obscure ‘community involvement’ panel which advises the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Someone with ‘radical views’ should not be sitting on such panels according to it and the people they quote. The views are indeed all extracted from his blogs on BtL, however this time they were very careful and did not misquote him (as far I can tell anyway).
I guess they learned from the previous experiences, deliberate misquoting does tend to get the lawyers involved… So what was the purpose of this latest story? Maybe a quiet news week?
The final sentence of the story: “Ali did not respond to repeated requests for comment.” is not actually true!
I should know, I received an email (addressed to blog editor) asking for Azad Ali’s contact details on Thursday 29 October at 15:02. I received a second email at 15:28, this time addressed to me by name. David Leppard, the author, noticed that I had written to various papers “on behalf of Azad Ali” before, and would I be able to answer queries on his Azad Ali’s behalf - if he wasn’t prepared to comment directly?
I replied almost immediately – the usual, that I do not represent him, I represent the blog which has many contributors, I can’t speak for him but I would be happy to forward any emails to him.
I received the journalist’s final email the next day Friday 30 October at 10:57 requesting me to forward some questions to him (which I did).
All I can say is, David, that makes 1 (one) request for comment and not repeated requests! And the notice was also 1 day for comment. Clearly the standards of investigative journalism isn’t what it used to be. A bit economical with the truth maybe?
Here’s the full story: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6898145.ece
This article is an absolute joke!
The Sunday Times that is Amin Bai….not you’r one
I can’t believe… well actually I can believe the way they (media) misrepresent and twist the truth. its the commentators that really annoy me though. Especially the ones talking about the dangers of Islam. Islam destroyed racism 1400 years ago and here we are in a backwards country that only 20 years ago had seriously racist people in positions of power.
Islam is not Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi or Saudi. The sooner those racist rednecks understand the benefits it has brought the better. 1001 inventions exhibition should be mandatory for all school children and those caught writing islamaphobic drivel on the times website. Education is the only way to break this chain of misinformation. I think the way forward is opening up the communities letting the black, white and mixed brothers marry the Asian sisters. If you keep the communities closed and only marry in the same communities it will keep this racist islamaphobic nonsense in the limelight. But what do I know I’m just a White…Anglo Saxon Muslim…