Government adviser on Muslim women resigns

A government project on Muslim women has been dismissed as a "political fad" by one of its founding members, who today resigned in protest over the initiative. In a letter to the communities secretary, John Denham, Shaista Gohir said the government should disband the National Muslim Women's Advisory Group, which was launched in 2008 by Gordon Brown and Hazel Blears. The panel, comprising 19 women, was designed to help women break down cultural barriers such as forced marriages. Gohir, director Muslim Voice UK, said she had become disillusioned with the initiative. Riazat Butt