Yvonne hopes she will lead a rebellion against Labour’s hold on Newcastle, running as an independent candidate in Newcastle Central & West.

This week, Muslim community’s criticism of Labour has intensified after Starmer’s controversial comments related to Bangladeshi immigrants and deportation sparked a major backlash online, British media reported.

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Ridley was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan on 28 September 2001, and held for 11 days, while working for the Sunday Express. In the days before the beginning of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, after being refused an entrance visa, she decided to follow the example of BBC reporter John Simpson, who had crossed the border anonymously in a burqa.

She entered on 26 September and spent two days undercover in Afghanistan. It was on her return, travelling with her guides, that she was uncovered when the donkey she was on bolted, and her camera was seen by a Taliban soldier.[8] She was accused of being a spy, which carried a death sentence, and at the very least faced jail for illegally entering Afghanistan.

Ridley revealed that she had kept a concealed diary inside a box for a toothpaste tube and inside of a soap wrapper. She had been on hunger strike throughout her captivity and described her experience as terrifying but she was not physically hurt.

Also read: UN adopts Pakistan’s resolution to combat Islamophobia with majority vote

She said in her book, In the Hands of the Taliban, that, while she was in captivity, she was treated with respect by the men of the Taliban and was, subsequently, amazed by their courtesy. All men that she came in contact with lowered their gazes (to her), which left her bewildered. She had initially thought they had already decided to have her executed and therefore could not look her in the eyes. Only later did she discover they were showing her a sign of respect. While in captivity she gave an undertaking to read the Qur'an and study Islam if they let her go. Fulfilling the promise and setting out on what she described as "an academic exercise" she said she was shocked to discover "the Quran makes it clear that women are equal in spirituality, worth, and education. What everyone forgets is that Islam is perfect; people are not."

Two weeks ago, Blocked British-Pakistani Labour Party candidate and left-wing academic Faiza Shaheen quit the Labour party for its having “hierarchy of racism”.

She had been due to contest the Chingford and Woodford Green seat held by Iain Duncan Smith but she was told on Wednesday that the party was suspending her after she liked social media posts that criticised Israel and its actions in Gaza.

Shaheen resigned after the decision to block her became official, when Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) declined to nominate her.

The politician has been vocal in her opposition to Islamophobia and racism within the Labour party and Labour leader Kier Starmer never liked her over her views.

The move clears the path for her potentially to stand against Labour as an independent. She said she would make an announcement.

Shaheen said, "Since the Conservatives won power in 2010, I have used all the tools available to me — from my research to my activism — to fight them on public spending cuts, inequality and divisive narratives. That is why to leave the Labour Party now, on the cusp of finally seeing the Tories out of government and a time when I should be celebrating, is crushing.”