It notes that , Claudia Webbe, the constituency’s former MP, who is standing in this election as an independent, has also “spoken out for Palestine” but adds that “this is not a special favour”.
The message goes on: “Any decent human being should condemn genocide. As an MP expelled from Labour, it is politically advantageous for her to speak on the Palestinian issue.”
Ms Webbe was elected as a Labour MP in 2019 but has sat as an independent since 2020 when she was expelled from Labour following her criminal conviction for harassing a love rival.
Another message which is being sent around in Leicester East is titled: “Why we as the Muslim community should vote for Claudia Webbe.” It says that a vote for Labour or Conservatives is a “vote for genocide”.
There is no suggestion that Ms Webbe or Mr Haq are involved in circulating such messages.
The dossier has been passed to Leicestershire Police to investigate whether any laws have been broken, The Telegraph understands.
Issue ‘going on for decades’
Fiyaz Mughal, an interfaith campaigner who founded the charities Tell MAMA and Faith Matters, said the issue of religious leaders pressuring their communities to vote for certain candidates has been going on for “decades”.
But he went on to explain that it has become “much more widespread in this election”, adding that he has picked up on similar things happening in Luton, around Yorkshire and Lancashire, and in east London.
“For me it really truly crosses that line to undue spiritual influence as well as psychological and social influence,” Mr Mughal said.
“What we are also seeing is a hardening of this sense of Islamic identity. There is a lot more activity on WhatsApp and there is no way to monitor this stuff. Imagine there were messages sent around telling people to vote for a white candidate – there would be uproar.”
The laws on spiritual influence were originally designed as an attempt to counter the influence of the Roman Catholic clergy over elections, largely in the southern counties of Ireland.
Francis Hoare, a barrister from Field Court Chambers, who brought the case against Mr Rahman in 2015, said that since then the law has been updated to broaden the definition of “spiritual influence”.
“The earlier offence had been found to require threats, normally from a cleric, of adverse consequences in the afterlife were a voter to vote or not to vote for a particular candidate,” Mr Hoare explained.
“While ‘spiritual pressure’ suggests a lower standard might be applied, this has yet to be tested in the courts.”
He added that, although the definition is now further reaching, judges may be cautious in how they interpret this.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Leicestershire constituency of Harborough, Oadby & Wigston, tensions are also running high.
Hajira Piranie, the Labour candidates, says she has been targeted by a series of criminal acts designed to create an “atmosphere of fear”, leading one volunteer on her campaign to remark that “sectarian politics is growing in a major way”.