'On reflection I have decided to retract my statement defending Imran Ahmad Khan'
A Tory MP has been slammed and branded "disgraceful" after defending Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan, who was charged with sexual assault on Monday.
Khan is currently awaiting sentencing after a jury at Southwark Crown Court found him guilty of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy more than a decade before he entered parliament.
While the country largely condemned the MP, his colleague and former Tory minister Crispin Blunt had another take.
The 61-year-old branded the trial a "dreadful miscarriage of justice" and "nothing short of an international scandal." He also claimed the case "relied on lazy tropes about LGBT+ people" and that it would have "dreadful wider implications" for LGBT Muslims "around the world."
Blunt's "disgraceful" remarks were met in force online and saw Shadow Equalities Secretary Anneliese Dodds call for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to "distance their party from his comments."
The MP's statements have since been removed from the website and on April 12, he posted a retraction that read:
"On reflection I have decided to retract my statement defending Imran Ahmad Khan.
"I am sorry that my defence of him has been a cause of significant upset and concern not least to victims of sexual offences.
"It was not my intention to do this.
"To be clear I do not condone any form of abuse and I strongly believe in the independence and integrity of the justice system."
https://twitter.com/CrispinBlunt/status/1513794463231057922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1513794463231057922%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fpolitics%2F2022%2F04%2F12%2Fboris-johnson-news-rishi-sunak-tax-ukraine-liz-truss%2F
Blunt also announced his resignation from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for global LGBTQ+ rights.
"I have today offered the officers my resignation so a new chair can be found to continue the work of the group with full force," he said.
While Blunt's resignation came this morning, vice-chair Stewart McDonald had already resigned last night.
https://twitter.com/StewartMcDonald/status/1513627626082078720
"I have resigned as a vice-chair of the @APPGLGBT following Crispin Blunt's statement. This was the first APPG I joined as an MP and it meant a lot to me. Parliament needs a respected and robust LGBT group and Crispin can no longer provide that leadership. He should stand down," he wrote on Twitter.
Khan has been eerily silent, but according to
The Independent, his lawyers are maintaining his innocence. Labour has called for his immediate resignation.
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