In one way I am reluctant to pay any attention to such ignorant and puerile nonsense. However, it’s hard to do nothing and stomach people in your own neighbourhood who simply want to inflame age old religious prejudices by trying to divide our communities.

Religion and race is a sensitive issue in Newham which is probably the most ethically mixed borough in Britain. However, by and large, despite problems, I think that communities in Newham interact and get on much better than elsewhere in Britain, especially when compared to some northern cities. This hasn’t happened by chance, but due to hard work by many local political, community and faith leaders. This is what makes these opportunistic attacks on the proposed mosque so despicable.

The simple facts of the matter are this, a Muslim religious group (Tablighi Jammaat) has been trying for some time to build a large mosque (seating for 12,000 - a little bigger than the East London Mosque in Tower Hamlets) on an isolated Brownfield site in West Ham, Newham.

As well as Craig, a number of others including the British National Party (BNP) have been deliberately provoking tension by spreading lies and misinformation about the mosque.

For example, Craig claims that even more Muslims will move into the area because of the mosque (untrue, but so what?), others have wrongly claimed that £100million of public money will be used to fund the mosque, reports have linked the mosque with the Olympics and deliberately exaggerating the size of the mosque.

There are claims and inferences that in some way Tablighi Jammaat supports terrorism and that there is a “threat” to the Olympic site?

This is irresponsible gutter rabble rousing at its worse.

Sensible decent Christians such as the Newham Christian Socialists Movement CSM have attacked Craig over this issue.

Does anyone seriously imagine that Craig would have opposed the building of similarly sized Christian evangelistic church? No, I don’t either. I really do not know how anyone who calls themselves a religious leader can be so upset and concerned about another faith building a religious centre, regardless of its size? Good luck to them if they can fill it! would be the response of most reasonable people.

By all means you can express your views, but send out press releases, to post videos of your self on YouTube, to pay for and set up a web site on the subject? There are plenty enough real issues of concern in Newham such as poverty, poor housing and gun/knife crime. Why is all of this of secondary interest to the building of some mosque?

I am afraid that I am left with the distinct impression that Craig is using his own followers, his electors and the media purely to stoke up his own ego and sense of importance. He is a squalid, grubby, tin pot politician who will do anything regardless of any cost in order to chase cheap headlines and notoriety.

Now, come to think of it, perhaps this post is about Galloway......?