For many years, I would knock on doors and traditional Labour voters would say "no, not Labour, you’re just for the Muslims".
The desertion of the Muslim block vote in Gorton and Denton should be seen as an opportunity to break away from this and earn back support from those who went to Reform UK.
The people I spoke to knew - as I do - that Muslims aren’t inherently extremist or terrorist sympathisers. They feel Islam was welcomed by tolerant Britain and that it has suffered death and destruction from a small proportion of it ever since, a proportion that is now growing.
As it is, moderate British Muslims, including moderates or simply cultural Muslims, have as much to fear as those who are coined "infidels" by radical Islam.
What they do know is that Islamic extremism has been the deadliest form of terror faced by the West for a generation, and they have often witnessed Labour’s kowtowing to the Muslim voting bloc with demands that appease, not confront it. That block carries great weight in many marginal Labour seats.
Take, for example, the recognition of Palestine - an event that I feel was to appease the mob, which has effectively alienated us from the only democracy in the Middle East, in return for thanks from only Hamas, a terrorist organisation, and the everyday extremists on hate marches.
Only last week, the Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer jubilantly celebrated the opening of the Palestinian embassy by broadcasting a boastful message when he visited for Ramadan.
I’m sure he considered it a political master stroke for this by-election. I hope now the Party will realise the fickleness of the sectarian followers of this cause.
That being said, I reject the idea that the Muslim faith is inherently anti-British. Our Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is a clear example of this - I know that she, as a devout Muslim, is a British as I am, a white man of British Christian culture.
The issue lies within the religiousness of certain sects of Islamic preaching, moving more and more toward extremism, which is encouraging a movement that is in direct conflict with Western values.
The Greens have embraced that for immediate results; Labour has the potential to show leadership in the rejection of it.
At the last general election, I worked for the Labour Party. From the demographic data and my first-hand experience, I could feel the movement of the Labour vote to Reform.
I had tried to outline that it was likely larger than we considered and that it wasn’t just disaffected Tories voting for them that ‘helped us’.
My own party talks a big game on British patriotism, yet stays silent on extremism for votes - Stuart Fawcett | Getty Images
Many were appalled by the Party’s Gaza stance after the October 07th terror attacks, but the focus was on appeasing the Muslim vote, many of whom were being unduly influenced or genuinely believed the disinformation that was being preached to them to influence their vote.
The Greens got the Muslim vote in Gorton and Denton and in doing so showed they are no party of patriotism. Draped in Keffiyeh, Palestinian and Pakistani flags, their activists have made clear their allegiances and that extremism can find a cosy home there on the far-left.
Whilst I maintain that Reform is yet to fully grasp the local angle of campaigning, its vote share cannot be denied and is the real lesson for Labour.
My interpretation is that the white working-class vote was split between Labour and Reform UK. It demonstrates deep disaffection from those who consider that fast demographic changes and cultural erosion are happening without their consent, whilst being told "diversity is our strength".
Labour must now accept they have lost the loyalty of the Muslim bloc vote; the sooner it does, the better, as demonstrable freedom from that influence will earn the party the right to be heard in working-class heartlands once again.
It does not mean we cannot be a safe and accepting place for the Muslim community, but we cannot be disproportionately hamstrung by the demands influenced by its more extreme preaching.
The Greens are now in the clutches of sectarian politics; Labour can take a good, long look at itself in the mirror and face the uncomfortable reality of delivering patriotic politics that draws clear lines on its values-to-vote ratio to show it is the party of working British patriots.
More From GB News