'Muslim Birmingham' remark draws mockery

British Prime Minister David Cameron says a Fox News commentator who said the city of Birmingham was "totally Muslim", is a "complete idiot".

A Fox News commentator's remark about the British city of Birmingham being "totally Muslim" has been widely mocked on Twitter, while Prime Minister David Cameron called the expert a "complete idiot".

Security analyst Steven Emerson said on Sunday that "non-Muslims just simply don't go in" to the city, during a discussion of multiculturalism in Britain after last week's Paris attacks.

"When I heard this, I choked on my porridge and I thought it must be April Fool's Day. This guy is clearly a complete idiot," Cameron told ITV News on Monday.

"What he should do is look at Birmingham and see what a fantastic example it is of bringing people together of different faiths, different backgrounds," he said.

Emerson later apologised, saying it was a "beautiful city" and announcing that he would make a donation to Birmingham Children's Hospital.

According to the latest census data from 2011, 21.8 per cent of the city's one million residents are Muslim - one of the highest proportions in Britain.

Bemused Britons - including locals known as "Brummies" - meanwhile mocked Emerson.

Under the hashtag #foxnewsfacts, user @chris_wilde tweeted a picture of a convoy of jihadists waving black Islamic State group flags with the quip: "Heavy traffic reported in Birmingham today".

The 1980s Birmingham band Duran Duran have been forced to change their name to Quran Quran, joked @msalimkassam, while @petermoore said of the city's landmark telecom tower: "Birmingham City Mosque is among the tallest and most sacred in all Islam".

Another published a picture of Queen Elizabeth II in a kerchief reading: "In the UK, the Queen must wear a headscarf by law when she visits Birmingham."

A third referred to Britain's unpredictable climate, joking that Muslims were in fact controlling it: "In some places it's Sunni, but mainly Shi'ite".


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world