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Burnley MP on the ball for new Islamic centre

9:30am Friday 30th July 2010 in


AS Burnley's new MP, he is only just getting used to the backbenches of the House of Commons.

But Gordon Birtwistle came off the subs' bench to take part in a fundraising football match.

And being a Liberal Democrat, he avoided both the left and right wings, during the seven-a-side tournament which raised cash for a new Islamic cultural centre planned for the town.

He said: “I played straight down the middle. I wasn’t going to play but they talked me into it.

"It was just a five-minute appearance, then I was subbed for being too good. I was too stylish I think.

“In all honesty, I think I only touched the ball once.

“But it was a great day, it was really enjoyed by all, a terrific occasion that raised a lot of money.”

The tournament raised more than £3,000 for the Islamic centre, which is planned for Hebrew Road.

Abdul Saliq, who helped to organise the tournament, said: “This is the biggest we’ve had it.

“Last year there were 16 teams and we raised over £2,500, now we have 24.

“I think it’s a great way to bring people together for a good cause as virtually everyone likes football.

“The centre will be a good community facility that can hold community events and be used for educational purposes.”

The new centre will host a variety of religious, educational and recreational events and is part of a £3.6million project in the Daneshouse ward.

Funding for the project will also come from private investors and developers across the North West.

Comments(14)

Mo Lestor says...
10:05am Fri 30 Jul 10

So.......another Mosque then?

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slingyerhook says...
10:05am Fri 30 Jul 10

Yet another mp pandering to the muslim community why the hell do they need an islamic centre? just like jack straw does in blackburn.

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phoebesgrandad says...
11:08am Fri 30 Jul 10

Islamic centre on Hebrew road???? Classic.

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611b says...
11:10am Fri 30 Jul 10

More pandering to muslims for their vote.
How about raising funds for shelter for the homeless, or for local hospice?
Why do we need an Islamic cultural centre? This is Britain.

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Stone Island says...
11:17am Fri 30 Jul 10

slingyerhook wrote:
Yet another mp pandering to the muslim community why the hell do they need an islamic centre? just like jack straw does in blackburn.
Simple. Lots of muslims = lots of voters. Ask Jack, he'll tell you.

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ashman says...
12:14pm Fri 30 Jul 10

slingyerhook wrote:
Yet another mp pandering to the muslim community why the hell do they need an islamic centre? just like jack straw does in blackburn.
I am a muslim and agree to somethings said..it does seem like the only reason MP's are nice to muslims is for a vote and nothing else..but why go on about it as MP's know best...dont they???????????

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your granny says...
12:24pm Fri 30 Jul 10

indeed, why do we/you Islamic cultural centre? How do people expect to intergrate if their brains are full of 'the old country' ways of life. It's this kind of thing that suggests that intergration is not at the top of the list of some people reasons to live here

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Mike says...
12:59pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Another so-called politician trying to curry favour with the ethnics.

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slingyerhook says...
1:34pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Mr birtwistles has got previous when it comes to muslims if im not mistaken mr birtwistle was very forcefull in his backing of the purchase of the old burnley college for conversion to an islamic boarding school, seems like our new mp is just the same as mr straw up the road in blackburn in his constant cow toeing to the muslim community this centre has no place in burnley as it is purely for muslims, so much for community cohesion and integration mr birtwistle already you are not listening to the 90% of the non muslim community who do not want places such as this that exclude the vast majorityof people, i think your term as mp may well be a short one.

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andy1 says...
2:07pm Fri 30 Jul 10

Look at all the so called Christians on here attacking Muslims again not knowing that Islam and Christianity if they looked properly are basically the same. Only thing that really seperates them is that Christians think that Christ if he ever excisted was the son of their God and Muslims belive again if he ever excisted that Christ was a prophet. Im neither of the two so really I dont care less. Live and let Live.

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zabby says...
11:52pm Fri 30 Jul 10

hey gordon if you are so keen on intigration why dont you move your family down to able street and set a good example to the rest of us,you could buy two terraced house knocked in to one with a bit of work doing to them ...who knows you might get a 100% grant to do it up and if you have a daughter she might even be lucky enough to meet a nice muslim man to start a family with, then you could all go to the islamic centre together wouldent that be nice

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Ian123xyz says...
8:51pm Mon 2 Aug 10

Why should there be any surprise? He is a LibDem MP and libdems have always been in support of unrestricted immigration. Because they are the junior partners in a coalition they can't actually implement this long standing policy of theirs yet. Having said that this particular charity is hardly likely to encourage integration. But that doesn't seem to be very high on anyone's agenda really.

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Ian123xyz says...
8:52pm Mon 2 Aug 10

Why should there be any surprise? He is a LibDem MP and libdems have always been in support of unrestricted immigration. Because they are the junior partners in a coalition they can't actually implement this long standing policy of theirs yet. Having said that this particular charity is hardly likely to encourage integration. But that doesn't seem to be very high on anyone's agenda really.

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Tetley Drinker says...
11:54am Tue 3 Aug 10

Gety a mosque built on t' Turf and then it can become known as Turf Mosque instead of its current label amongst football supporrters of Turf Morgue;-)

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