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Adnan Hussain
Adnan Hussain (born July 1989)[2] is a British independent politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackburn since 2024.[3] Since September 2024 he has been a member of the Independent Alliance. Early lifeAdnan Hussain was born in Burnley, Lancashire.[4] He attended Mansfield High School and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Central Lancashire.[1] Legal and business careerHussain was admitted as a solicitor in August 2022. He is a director at Bank View Solicitors in Blackburn, Lancashire.[5][6] In the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, Hussain has declared shareholdings in multiple property companies and two residential properties in Burnley which provide a rental income of over £10,000 a year.[7] Parliamentary careerIn the 2024 general election, Hussain beat the incumbent Kate Hollern of the Labour Party.[8] Hussain's election campaign had a focus on the 2024 Israel-Gaza war and was supported by a group 12 of independent councillors on Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council called 4BwD who had resigned from the Labour Party in opposition to its position on the war.[1][9] During the campaign, Hussain said he would speak out "against the injustice being inflicted against the people of Gaza.”[6] After his election, he said: "This is for Gaza"[3] and "We are here on the back of a genocide and if that is giving us an opportunity then we must grasp it and use it for the betterment of our communities.”[10] He had only decided to stand when the election was called and had previously worked on Kate Hollern's campaigns before 2020.[1][10] Hussain sponsored the Independent—Green "Amendment B" to abolish the two child benefit cap and voted in support of the Scottish National Party's "Amendment D" to abolish the cap.[11][12] Shortly after the vote, Hussain, Shockat Adam, Jeremy Corbyn, Ayoub Khan, and Iqbal Mohamed produced a joint letter decrying the two major parties and stating the need for a caring alternative.[13] Adam and Corbyn had been in discussions with Khan, Hussain, and Mohamed regarding how to impact policy, with Adam stating that the five were "looking at options that would give us more access to the levers of power."[14] On 2 September 2024, Hussain was a founding member of the Independent Alliance parliamentary group.[15] Personal lifeHussain lives in Wilpshire, Lancashire.[1] ControversyIn 2014, Hussain spoke at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Hyde Park,[16] and one in Bradford.[17] At the demo in Hyde Park, Hussain said "Any man, woman that takes away innocent lives is a terrorist. There is no doubt about it. He could be from America, he could be from Israel, or he could be the bloody ISIS” and "ISIS are terrorists and so are the Israeli government—there is no difference between them".[16] At the demo in Bradford, he spoke at a Free Palestine rally in Bradford when he stated that the 2014 Israel-Gaza War and the Blockade of the Gaza Strip amounted to a genocide against the Palestinian people. In his speech he said "They let Gaza burn, they hate Gaza... Now let's make Israel burn, let's make Israel burn. We will stop their funding..." and ended the speech with calls for solidarity with the Jewish community, and for harmony between all racial and religious groups.[17] After winning his seat in the 2024 UK general election, The Daily Telegraph, reported on his 2014 speeches. Hussain stated his comments at the Bradford demo were in support of boycotting Israel but that "with the maturity of at least ten years since the speech in question, I'd use my words much more carefully". In The Daily Telegraph's first article, a spokesman for the British Jewish organisation Community Security Trust compared his comments with the actions of Hamas and Hezbollah, saying "parts of Israel literally burning at the hands of Hamas terrorists and under Hezbollah rocket bombardments shows just what this slogan means in practice".[17] References
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