Jewish group demands suspension of NHS diversity manager who used anti-semitic stereotypes - 'Apologise, now!'

A leading Jewish group has called on the NHS to suspend a diversity chief in the wake of a GB News investigation which showed him repeating anti-semitic stereotypes.

Mahroof Hussain, who earns a taxpayer-funded £50k salary as the national Diversity, Inclusion and Participation Manager at NHS Health Education England, said Jewish people exert control in society due to their “financial resources”.

Hussain was this week exposed by GB News as a former Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Councillor who was named twice in Dame Louise Casey’s report into the authority, which found it to be “in denial” over the town's appalling grooming gangs scandal.

The Casey report found that council staff felt that Hussain had “suppressed discussion” of the sex-grooming gangs in the town.

Although Hussain resigned his cabinet role, he rejected Casey’s findings, and at the time issued a joint statement alongside then-Council Leader Paul Lakin saying: “In our view, none of those appointed to the new cabinet at the full council meeting on September 10, 2014 was in denial.”

From 1997 to 2013, which includes the period that Hussain and other councillors were said to have “stifled” investigation, a “conservative estimate” of 1,400 girls were sexually exploited, trafficked, raped and tortured. Some of the victims were as young as 11. The National Crime Agency has since revised the number of victims during this period to 1,510.

Casey found that Hussain “rebuffed” a police officer when he proposed an initiative to target abusers after a pattern emerged that the abusers predominantly worked as taxi drivers and were from the Pakistani community. That pattern was borne out showing that males from Pakistani backgrounds were vastly over-represented in group localised child sexual exploitation.

GB News also uncovered footage of Hussain repeating anti-semitic stereotypes that Jewish people exert control in society due to their “financial resources” while appearing on an Urdu-language news network since he resigned in disgrace from his Rotherham council role.

On the Noor TV network in 2016, Hussain discussed the claim that “Jews control this and that,” responding to himself by saying “but why not?” adding that Jewish people have ‘control’ because “they have the ability, financial resources and the capability and the brains and the strategy.”

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism told GB News: “In view of his controversial past political positions, there is a certain irony in Mahroof Hussain's willingness to make sweeping generalisations about other faith groups.

"His conspiratorial views about Jews, which rest on antisemitic stereotypes about Jewish control and wealth, can have no place in our public discourse. He must apologise for these remarks, and his MBE must surely be called into question.”

The CAA added: “NHS HEE must immediately suspend Mr Hussain and transparently investigate the allegations.

"For a taxpayer-funded body to do anything less would severely damage the public's confidence.

"The case is made considerably more severe given Mr Hussain's role as Diversity, Inclusion and Participation Manager. If the allegations are made out, it goes without saying that it is not tenable for him to continue in that position.”

The CAA’s comments came after Foreign Office Minister Zac Goldsmith tweeted: “Why has this man been employed by the NHS in a senior diversity & inclusion role? This thread [the GB News investigation] is almost beyond belief.”

NHS Health Education England failed to confirm to GB News if they were aware of Hussain’s past at Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council when hiring him.

Hussain’s LinkedIn profile — deleted since GB News published its investigation on Monday — failed to explicitly mention his period at RMBC. Instead, he vaguely referred to a period as a 'City Council Member' at 'Local Government'.

An NHS Health Education England spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of the issues raised by GB News and are looking into them."