I believe that this claim is directly Islamophobic and deeply political. Starmer, or Sir Keir Starmer, is the prime minister of the UK and upon a quick google search there are various articles talking about him and what he may have or may not have said or done. I found a handful of articles written about him and London's current mayor Sadiq Kahn, and how they have been discussing that Islamophobia is on the rise in the UK. "Keir Starmer is facing mounting calls to scrap [Labour’s] controversial ‘Islamophobia’ definition in the wake of the grooming gangs scandal, amid concerns that it could stifle free speech and deter whistleblowers from exposing wrongdoing."(Attenborough, par.1) and "The APPG definition, which was drawn up while Wes Streeting – now the Health Secretary – was its chairman, describes Islamophobia as “a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”. While it has been formally adopted by Labour for internal purposes, as well as by the Liberal Democrats, SNP, Green Party, and several local authorities, critics argue it is dangerously vague and could suppress necessary discussions about cultural practices or religious beliefs." (Attenborough, Par. 3) This is referencing a study done by Prof Alexis Jay in 2014, finding that roughly 1,400 girls in the Rotherham area had been sexually exploited or abused, by "primarily men of Pakistani heritage". This occurred between the 1980's til 2013, but this case has only head a huge resurgence now with British people and governmental officials calling for the case to be looked at again. The fear is that Starmer's talk of Islamophobia will negatively impact this case because people may be uncertain whether or not to speak out about these attacks over fears of sounding "Islamophobic". None of the articles I found had any mention of these men being Islamic, just that they were Pakistani or Asian, so I am not sure why the term “Islamophobia” is being treated like a hot potato buzzer word. It is my belief that after this information came out, people saw the race of the men and decided to run with it, turning the idea of “let’s investigate further for justice” into “these men are Islamic terrorists trying to hurt our women”. I think that this poster is using this to display their negative feelings toward Starmer as a political figure and monopolizing the situation to spread their own ideology of Islamophobia and hate. While what has happened is horrific and the perpetrators should be brought to justice, I do not believe in or condone Asian hate and Islamophobia, and I fully believe that Islam and it’s followers are not "a cancer" for the UK, or anywhere, rapists and abusers are.
Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Islamism
https://www.history.com/topics/religion/islam
https://freespeechunion.org/keir-starmer-urged-to-scrap-controversial-islamophobia-definition-in-wake-of-grooming-gangs-scandal/
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9w5l4vxv2qo
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-61868863
