Philip Davies MP & Naz Shah MP are The Freedom Association’s ‘Parliamentarians of the Week’

This week’s ‘Parliamentarians of the Week’ are Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, and Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West.

During the pointless debate in Westminster Hall on Monday evening about whether or not the UK should ban Donald Trump from ever stepping foot again on these shores, two people really stood out in their contributions opposing the move.

Naz Shah, who did us all a favour by trouncing George Galloway at the last general election, said:

“I would give an open invitation to Donald Trump to visit my constituency. I would take him to the synagogue, the church and the mosque and I would invite him for a curry—we are the curry capital of Britain. I would welcome him, then have a conversation with him and challenge him about his views.”

As last Monday was Martin Luther King Day in the United States, she concluded her speech by quoting these words from Dr. King:

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

Philip Davies made an excellent speech in defence of free speech. He concluded it by saying:

“I end with a point I made at the start. For anyone who is outraged that Donald Trump thinks people should be banned from this country because of their beliefs but thinks the solution is to ban Donald Trump for his beliefs is ridiculous. You couldn’t make it up, and I could not agree less if I tried.”

Both Philip Davis and Naz Shah argued that the best way to deal with those with whom you disagree, is to enter into a dialogue with them and challenge them. Free speech works both ways. We all have the right to use free speech to demolish prejudice, racism, xenophobia, sexism – the list goes on. Banning someone from entering the country because they want to ban people who subscribe to a certain religion, is, as Philip Davies said, ridiculous. (These views were also echoed by me during an interview on BBC Radio London, broadcast during the debate.)

We offer both Philip Davies and Naz Shah our congratulations as this week’s ‘Parliamentarians of the Week’.