Self-proclaimed Feminist, MP Maajid Nawaz has been filmed trying to repeatedly touch a naked lap dancer.
Nawaz refers to himself as an advocate of women's rights. However, the footage shows Nawaz attempting to touch the dancer's arms and thighs, which is against the policy of the club.
The staff at the venue revealed that Nawaz had been bothering the dancer all night, and lamented his actions as egregious.
The manager of the club, Jay Shah, witnessed Maajid Nawaz's behaviour. Shah reveals that Nawaz was “very drunk” and bouncers had threatened to through him out many times during the night. Shah added, “He was asking her to touch him and he was touching her. In general he was quite persistent with her, asking to take her out and for her number.”
On Newsnight in 2013, Nawaz affirmed that, “I consider myself a feminist.” He once tweeted that “You don't need to be a woman to stand up for women's rights.”
The club's owner, Abdul Malik wants the video to be made public and seen by all because he believes people ought to see the real face of Nawaz. “He's always talking about religion on TV and I thought, what a hypocrite.”
Abdul Malik claims that Nawaz visited the club during the holy month of Ramadan.
Nawaz and two friends paid a £10 entry fee to enter this small club in Whitechapel. They were seen drinking heavily. Nawaz received two five-minute lap dances an hour apart.
During the first session, in which the dancer removes her clothes- she had to repeatedly remove his hands off her body and eventually pushes him away at one point.
During the second lap dance with the same woman, Nawaz spent time talking to her, whispering into her ears and trying to touch her hair. The dancer informed her manager, who told security to “keep an eye on her.”
Conservative MP, Nadine Dorries calls for Nawaz to quit his candidacy. “In politics, you can't advocate one cause or manner of behaviour then act differently in your personal life.”
Labour MP, Khalid Mahmood said, “The message this sends to women is not one of respect.”
A spokesman for Nawaz stated that he denied touching the dancer erroneously. He also added that Nawaz's stature for encouraging women's rights was “in context of Islamic extremism.”
Furthermore, the spokesman also adds that Nawaz was not warned for his behaviour, nor did he breach the rules and neither was he uncontrollable due to the influence of alcohol.
The spokesman also mentioned that Nawaz was at the club for his stag-do. “The evening you refer to was our clients stag night before his marriage. His best man took him to the gentleman's club with the full knowledge of our client's then future wife [his current wife].”
