Politician reports reality TV star's 'racist' tweets

Katie Hopkins has been reported to police in England over claims she may have incited racial hatred in Rochdale by suggesting Pakistani men in the area were sex abusers.

Politician reports reality TV star's 'racist' tweets

Katie Hopkins has been reported to police in England over claims she may have incited racial hatred in Rochdale by suggesting Pakistani men in the area were sex abusers.

Britain's Labour MP Simon Danczuk, who represents the town, sent an email to the Police Commissioner of Greater Manchester Police, Tony Lloyd, asking him to investigate whether a crime had been committed.

In it he complains the reality TV star had used Twitter to associate the Pakistani flag with the grooming of young girls in Rochdale, a scandal which has rocked the area.

Hopkins is said to have started sending the tweets after Mr Danczuk attended the raising of a Pakistani flag over the town hall for half an hour on March 23 to mark National Pakistan Day.

She wrote: “Raising a Pakistani flag in Rochdale is not helping community cohesion. it is inflammatory. @SimonDanczuk you & your party disgust me.”

Outspoken Hopkins posted a series of messages to her account after the MP tweeted a picture of himself at the event.

In response the controversial columnist sent a picture of eight men convicted of child exploitation offences, asking Mr Danczuk if they were his friends too.

Explaining his decision to make the complaint, the MP said it was about the businesswoman “inciting racial hatred”.

He said: “The letter is me asking the Police Commissioner to investigate whether a crime has been committed in relation to Katie Hopkins.”

He continued: “It is not right that somebody who has little to do with Rochdale incited hatred of this kind.

“Rochdale is a very cohesive community – people work well together. Of course there are tensions, like there are in other communities, but people rub together really well and we don’t need outsiders like Katie Hopkins to come in and cause trouble just for the sake of causing trouble and creating Sun headlines.”

Mr Danczuk said Rochdale has faced up to the “heinous crime” of child grooming “in a way that’s managed to keep our communities together”.

He said: “That’s why Katie Hopkins’ crass comments are not helpful.

“They are a clear attempt to divide communities, undo three years of hard work and make an unfair and racist generalisation that anyone of Pakistani origin is a child abuser.

“To equate the Pakistan flag with child abuse, as she has done on social media over the last week, is absurd and it creates a dangerous environment where extreme intolerance becomes acceptable.

“We have already seen taxi drivers stabbed in the face in race hate attacks and I’m not prepared to allow people like Hopkins, who know nothing about our town, to stir up tensions in such a dangerously provocative way that could lead to innocent people being attacked by extremists.

“As a result of her comments last week, I have been threatened by extremists and hard right groups have pledged to march on our town. I am a strong supporter of free speech but it has to be responsible – and that’s why we have laws to prevent people deliberately provoking hatred of a racial group.”

Hopkins has been contacted for comment.

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