London’s first Muslim mayor has appointed a Deputy “Integration” Mayor who has worked with CAGE, an allegedly “extremist” organisation who described Islamic State executioner Jihadi John as a “beautiful man”.
Matthew Ryder (pictured left), whose full title will be “Deputy Mayor of London for Social Integration, Social Mobility and Community Engagement”, was appointed by Mayor Sadiq Khan on the 9th of September.
His career as a barrister has focused on taking on the British police and security services, attacking them for issues ranging from undercover surveillance and allegedly unlawful detention.
During his election campaign, the Labour Mayor was accused of sympathising with Islamic extremist after it emerged he shared a platform with numerous anti-Semites, defended 9/11 terrorists as a barrister and had a brother-in-law who was a member of banned jihadi group Al-Muhajiroun.
Such concerns are unlikely to be dispelled, as the controversial Mayor’s new deputy, Breitbart can reveal, spoke at a CAGE event called “Travelling While Muslim” in 2013.
CAGE claims to stand up for Muslims who are persecuted by anti-terror laws. However, they were condemned by the previous Prime Minister and have been described by left-wingers as “a shady Salafi PR outfit” and an “advocacy group for Islamic fundamentalism in British society”.
The group has defended many convicted terrorists and killers – including Mohammed Emwazi (aka Jihadi John) – told Muslims to “support the jihad” in Iraq and Afghanistan and once argued that the UK had nothing to fear from Muslims travelling to Syria to fight.
At the 2013 event, Mr. Ryder spoke alongside Moazzam Begg, a former inmate in Guantanamo Bay who has repeatedly admitted attending Jihadi training camps and once signed a confession stating that he was an Al Qaeda recruiter.
Chairing the event was CAGE’s Research director, Asim Qureshi. He once said it is “incumbent on all of us to support the Jihad” against Western forces whilst praising the “example” of militants in Iraqi and the banned terrorist group Hezbollah for “defeating the armies of Israel”.
“Sadiq has asked Matthew to help ensure Londoners from different faiths, ethnicities, backgrounds and social classes are better integrated in a city that is the most diverse in the country, where the population is at record levels and where more than 100 languages are spoken”, the Mayor’s office announced in a statement.
Continuing: “Matthew’s task will be to ensure Londoners of every gender, ethnicity, faith, culture, age, sexuality and socio-economic background don’t just live side by side, but live truly interconnected lives.”
Sadiq Khan said: “I am thrilled that Matthew has agreed to join my team at City Hall and to help me find ways of improving the social integration of our city.
“We are extremely lucky to have so many fantastic communities in London, but there is no point in having that diversity if they do not mix with each other and helping that happen is a huge challenge.
“We have to strengthen the bonds between Londoners of every background and I believe that Matthew is the very best person for this important role.”
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