A convicted terrorist who is seeking election to Birmingham City Council has told GB News he is "better than every Labour candidate" in an exclusive interview on the People's Channel.
Sitting down with national reporter Will Godley ahead of the Birmingham City Council Election on May 7, Shahid Butt opened up about his past convictions - and why he is looking to stand for election.
Back in 1999, the 60-year-old was thrown behind bars for five years after he was found guilty of plotting to blow up the British consulate, an Anglican church as well as a Swiss-owned hotel in Yemen.
Nevertheless, Butt has continued to deny the terror conviction, insisting his confession was extracted under torture and that evidence was fabricated, telling GB News he was subject to a "kangaroo court".
"First of all, I was convicted in Yemen, not in the UK. This happened a few decades ago. Most importantly, it was false charges that I was charged with," he explained to GB News.
"None of these charges were true. It was a kangaroo court. I was tortured into signing a confession."
The convict is now standing in the Sparkhill ward for the Independent Candidates Alliance, an activist-led grouping expected to field around 20 candidates across Birmingham on May 7.
Facing calls for him to step down over his criminal past, he responded saying he was standing "because I feel that I am the right candidate to do to get the job done".
Shahid Butt sat down on GB News with Will Godley
|GB NEWS
He added: "I'm better than all of these Labour candidates and all the other people you know who can't speak English, who can't read, who can't write.
"At least I can read and write and speak English. And I can go into that council house. I can read the budgets, I can see where all the funding is going.
"I can see where all the projects and the opportunities are and bring those opportunities to Sparkhill."
British law states only convictions made in the UK within the last five years would lead to a disqualification.
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A Labour source told GB News: “Let us be very clear, this man is a convicted terrorist.
"He was found guilty of conspiring to bomb a British consulate and has been jailed for committing violence in Birmingham.
"He is a threat to Birmingham, a threat to Britain and should be nowhere near public office."
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