Muslim politicians commit vote fraud in Britain. (Hat tip: Ringo.)

Beneath the veneer of an apparently democratic local election campaign the battle to control areas of Birmingham involved allegations of death threats, intimidation and bribery.

In scenes more reminiscent of a gangster movie, party members used nefarious tactics to ensure a clean sweep of the six available seats in Aston and Bordesley Green, delivering a large and surprising swing towards Labour.

At the height of the skullduggery was a “vote-rigging factory” set up by Labour activists in Aston and run from a disused warehouse. There, the three candidates - Mohammed Islam, Muhammed Afzal and Mohammed Kazi, who maintained their innocence and described yesterday’s judgment as a “dark day for democracy” - and their supporters altered bags stuffed with ballots to ensure that they were elected. …

In Bordesley Green, of the 7,000 postal votes cast, up to 2,000 were either stolen, altered with correction fluid, diverted or falsified in Labour’s favour. The party succeeded in ousting the People’s Justice Party’s two councillors by 441 votes. Similarly in Aston, where at least 1,000 votes were fraudulent, the Liberal Democrats lost by 514 votes.

The defeated parties brought a petition against the winning councillors under the Representation of the People Act 1983 and the hearing took place at the Birmingham and Midlands Institute.

The Bordesley Green councillors, Shafaq Ahmed, Shah Jahan and Ayaz Khan, were not present. They walked out of the hearing on the first day after the Labour Party withdrew its legal support and the judge declined them more time to prepare their case.