Importers demand removal of maximum retail price

Govt. proposes to increase MPs’ sitting allowance from Rs. 500 to Rs. 20,000 per day

By Charumini de Silva-Thursday, 24 December 2015

Food importers are lobbying the Government to remove maximum retail prices on essential commodities insisting standard prices are impractical in an environment of changing international markets and currency fluctuations. 

The Essential Food Commodities Importers and Traders Association said maintaining long term price controls on imported essential food commodities introduced by the Government is fraught with practical difficulties and could result an adverse impact on the continuity of supply and availability in the immediate future.Stakeholders therefore urge the Government to do away with the restrictions/imposition of maximum retail prices (MRP) for imported essential food commodities opining that it is unreasonable to have controlled prices on essential commodities.

“Our primary concern with regards to the maximum retail price (MRP) at arbitrary price points are the possible adverse impact it can have on the continuity of supply and availability of essential items like white sugar, wheat flour (unpacked), green gram, canned fish, coriander, black gram, Maldives fish, turmeric, chilies, sprats, dhal, dried fish, chick pea and milk powder items,” they said.

The stakeholders pointed that for distribution countrywide to be efficient and economically viable, a realistic variation in prices of around 10% to 15% should be reflected between wholesale and retail prices.

“World market prices are subject to fluctuation, but authorities must also understand that importers have to make advance bookings based on forward price to ensure food security by continuity of supply and at the time of clearance the import tariff applicable on rate of exchange are also significant and considerable factors,” they stressed.

The Association said the immediate attention is on sugar and dhal imports. Sri Lanka requires 40,000 tons of sugar per month and the local production is only 10%, which is currently over as well.

They suggested that it is important for the Government to understand the situation and either remove the MRP imposed on sugar or to do away with the duty imposed. However, in the case of dhal imports the Government does not have two options, but to do away with the MRP.

Lamenting on the difficulties the sugar importers face the association said they only enjoy a very thin margin of 1% to 1.5% compared to other commodities that are enjoying huge margins from both retail and wholesale.

Further they pointed out that in an open market economy price controls are by and large removed and market forces determine prices.

“We as direct importers and wholesale traders of all food commodities to the entire nation have always ensured that no shortages have ever occurred in the supply of essential food commodities,” a spokesman for the Association emphasised.

Noting that the association has always catered to the market with a clear objective of ensuring continuous and consistent supply of essential food items at a fair price, it is surprising that the very concept of price controls would be considered when one looks at the current price volatility of food items produced locally and internationally.

Despite conducting several meetings with the Ministers and authorities the association still has not received a positive response from them. “The finance Minister verbally assured that he will look into the matter, but no one seems to be taking any action on the long-term aspect of it.”

Soon after the festive season, the association is planning to have a media briefing to voice their plight to the general public.

Female Soldier to be Quizzed over Ekneligoda Abduction

23/12/2015

Four more Army intelligence personnel, including a female, are to be summoned to the CID for questioning in connection with the enforced disappearance of journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda.

They have been informed through the Army headquarters, a top CID official told Sri Lanka Mirror.

Along with the female soldier, her husband, also a member of the Army intelligence, has been asked to be present for interrogation.

Both had serviced at the MIC camp at Giritale at the time of the journalist’s abduction.

Suspect’s wife to police
Meanwhile, the wife of Army intelligence’s Corporal Ranjith, who is under arrest over the incident, has been asked to be present at the Polonnaruwa police to give a statement.

The CID has already questioned 38 Army intelligence members in connection with Ekneligoda’s abduction as well as the murder of ‘The Sunday’ Leader’ editor Lasantha Wickramatunga.

Five Army intelligence members are being detained under the PTA in connection with Ekneligoda’s abduction.
SLM

Nalaka Godahewa is a political prisoner – Mahinda

Dec 23, 2015

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa alleged that the current government has started a political witch hunt against the opposition political opponents and professionals.

The former president gave a statement when he participated for a special discussion held with BBC.

The media reported that the former president visited the welikada prison hospitals to see the army soldiers who were alleged for the murder of the journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda. 

However the former president said that he visited the prison hospitals to see Nalaka Godahewa and three other professionals who were currently in custody.

He said when he visited he was able to meet few army intelligence officers who were taken into custody for the abduction of Prageeth Ekneligoda. 

Prevention of Terrorism Act 

“Now these people are arrested under the prevention of terrorism act. I don’t think it is fair to arrest the army intelligence under the PTA”

When BBC contacted the police spokesperson Assistant Superintendent of Police Ruwan Wanigasekara, the latter said that he wish to abstain giving a statement regarding a case which is currently under litigation.

The Kurunegala district parliament MP briefs that Nalaka Godahewa and few others were inside custody due to their involvement in politics behalf of me and described them as political prisoners.

“Due to their involvement in politics they are being arrested, because of giving a small letter which has a technical error. If not these are civil cases”

BBC is biased

However the police spokesperson denied the allegation that the police are not giving bail out for the accused for supposedly transforming a civil allegation to a criminal case. 

The police spokesperson said that these officers are taken into custody for violating the public property act which is non-bailable allegation and if there are any objections the accused can file a fundamental rights petition in the courts.

MP Rajapaksa criticized the presidential commission which is investigating the advertising campaigns of   the state owned ITN channel during the last presidential election for reimbursing the money, that the complaint is investigated due to a political influence. 

Meantime the Kurunegala MP castigated the BBC for reporting the current situation of the country in a biased way. 

“When reporting information to the public don’t be biased. There is a serious allegation against the BBC that you all are involved in a biased reporting” he said.

“The people are not expecting this from you, you all have to think intelligently and broad”

Meantime when BBC inquired the missing journalists wife Sandya Ekneligoda to get her opinion about the allegations leveled by the former president she said that the Rajapaksa administration is trying to save the members of the army who has been alleged for abducting her husband. 

The attempt to get a statement from the cabinet spokesperson Rajitha Senarathna to get his opinion about the allegation leveled by the former president failed. 

Govt. proposes to increase MPs’ sitting 

allowance from Rs. 500 to Rs. 20,000 per day

by Dasun Edirisinghe-December 23, 2015, 12:00 pm

There has been a proposal to increase MPs’ allowance for attending parliamentary sessions from Rs. 500 to Rs. 20,000, according to highly placed sources.

The proposal had been made by the government to the House Committee, sources said.

MPs are currently paid Rs. 500 per sitting day, but some of them have demanded this amount be increased as it has remained static for many years whereas their expenses have increased manifold.

The JVP has opposed the proposed increase. JVP Propaganda Secretary MP Vijitha Herath told The Island that his party had handed over a letter to the House Committee against increasing the sitting allowance.

MP Herath said no final decision had been taken on the matter, but he was informed that discussions were underway to increase the sitting allowance from Rs. 500 to Rs. 15,000.

"We heard that the House Committee has discussed the matter," he said.

Asked whether his party was opposed to paying an additional allowance to parliamentarians for attending sessions in addition to their salaries, the Gampaha District MP said that the JVP was opposed to not only the sitting allowance, but also several other privileges including the pension scheme for MPs.

Herath said that they were also of the opinion that parliamentarians did not need a salary, but a small allowance.

A government MP told The Island on condition of anonymity that the sitting allowance should have been increased some years back.

Contacted for comment Minister of Parliamentary Reforms and Mass Media Gayantha Karunathilaka said his ministry had not been informed of such a decision so far.

Asked for his personal opinion on the alleged move to increase the sitting allowance, Karunathilake said that it didn’t matter to him whether it was increased or not as he was not dependent on it.

National Organiser of the Joint Opposition Dullas Alahapperuma said that he would not comment on it since there had been formal discussion on the issue.

"We have not been informed of such a discussion or decision," he said.

In October Speaker Karu Jayasuriya revealed in Parliament that a single day’s parliamentary sittings cost Sri Lankan taxpayer Rs. 4.6 million. The 225-member Parliament meets on eight days a month, but recently the government has proposed the number of days on which the House meets be increased.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Dec. 12 announced that the government was planning to increase the number of parliamentarians’ staff members from three to 18 each. The number of employees working for an MP would be increased in view of additional workload to be assigned to each MP under the government’s plan to strengthen the parliamentary system, he said. Currently, an MP is entitled to a private secretary, office assistant and a driver.

Six arrested with Hirunika’s jeep remanded

December 23, 2015

Six persons arrested with a jeep belonging to MP Kirunika Premachandra, over the abduction of a youth in Dematagoda, have been remanded till January 04 pending an identification parade.

When the suspects arrested last evening were produced at the Colombo Magistrate’s Court today, the Colombo Crimes Division (CCD) requested for an identification parade.

The CCD informed court that statements have been recorded from 4 witnesses regarding the incident and that if the suspects are presented in an identification parade they can be recognized.

However, attorneys representing the defendants objected to this request stating that as a certain television channel had made public the pictures of the suspects, presenting them to an identification parade would be unfair. 

Therefore they requested the court to cancel the identification parade, Ada Derana reporter said. 

However, after considering the facts presented by both parties Colombo Additional Magistrate Priyantha Liyanage ordered that the suspects be further remanded pending an identification parade. 

A 34-year-old was abducted by a group of six persons who had arrived in a Land Rover Defender which is reportedly owned by Premachandra.

The victim who is a resident of Kolonnawa was abducted by the group last afternoon in Dematagoda area over a clandestine love affair between the victim and one of the suspects’ wife.

The victim has been admitted to the Colombo National hospital for treatments.

Premachandra yesterday said that she has no involvement in the incident and that it was her who handed them over to the police. 

Hirunika Takes Law Into Her Own Hands

December 23, 2015

Determined to get justice, Hirunika Premachandra abducts a 34 year old man and holds him in her office

The man was forcibly taken away by Hirunika’s staff members in a Land Rover Defender which belongs to her.

Defending her staff members’ action Hirunika said last night that she only wanted to do was to prevent a family from breaking up.

The victim, Amila Priyanga Amarasinghe said he was personally threatened by the parliamentarian Hirunika Premachandra, the Police Spokesman said yesterday.

She denied all the accusations leveled against her and said that she had not threatened or assaulted Amila Priyanga Amarasinghe. She said that only she wanted to help one of her staff members, as his family was about to be broken up by an outsider.

She also went on to say Amila Priyanga who was also married, had been having an extra marital relationship with the wife of one of her staff members who had two children.

All were arrested apart from her by the police.

“She did a grave mistake, she can’t defend her action but she is defending it and which is alarming” one of her supporters told Colombo Telegraph.

“Just started her political thuggery” one commentator has posted on his Facebook page.

Another commentator posted on his Facebook page; “Seriously? Can never take the thug out of some. Like father, like daughter”

                                         Read More

Trio including former SEC chief further remanded

Dec 23, 2015

Former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Nalaka Godahewa and two other individuals, who are in custody on alleged financial fraud at the SEC, were further remanded till January 4 by Colombo Additional Magistrate today.

He was arrested on December 07 by the police Financial Crimes Investigation Division (FCID) after he arrived at the SEC to give a statement. On December 4, Police arrested former Deputy Director General of the SEC Dhammika Manjira Perera, and another individual named Ronny Ibrahim, over an alleged financial irregularity which had occurred in 2013.

 

The Suday Times

Exclusive - India says closing in on Westinghouse deal to build 6 nuclear reactors

Sea waves hit the rocks as Kudankulam nuclear power project plant is seen in the background in Tamil Nadu September 13, 2012.-REUTERS/ADNAN ABIDI/FILES

BY SANJEEV MIGLANI AND PARITOSH BANSAL-Wed Dec 23, 2015

India expects to seal a contract with Westinghouse Electric Co LLC to build six nuclear reactors in the first half of next year, a senior government official said, in a sign its $150 billion dollar nuclear power programme is getting off the ground.

The proposed power plant in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat will accelerate India's plans to build roughly 60 reactors, which would make it the world's second-biggest nuclear energy market after China.

India wants to dramatically increase its nuclear capacity to 63,000 megawatts (MW) by 2032, from 5,780 MW, as part of a broader push to move away from fossil fuels, cut greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the dangerous effects of climate change.

The United States signed a pact with India in 2008, opening the way for nuclear commerce that had previously been stymied due to New Delhi's nuclear weapons programme and shunning of the global Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

But hopes that reactor makers would get billions of dollars of new business evaporated after India adopted a law in 2010 giving the state-run operator Nuclear Power Corp of India Ltd (NPCIL) the right to seek damages from suppliers in the event of an accident.

Indian officials have been trying to assuage suppliers' concerns, including by setting up an insurance pool with a liability cap of 15 billion Indian rupees ($226.16 million).

A final hurdle – ratification of the International Atomic Energy Agency's Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (CSC) – is expected within weeks, the Indian government official said.

The CSC requires signatories to shift liability to the operator and offers access to relief funds.

In a statement, Westinghouse said it expected India would move towards a framework that satisfies the CSC and channels accident liability exclusively to the operator. The statement made no reference to ongoing negotiations.

A deal with Westinghouse, a unit of Toshiba Corp, could also put pressure on General Electric Co, whose nuclear energy venture with Hitachi was offered a site six years ago to build reactors.

GE has still not decided whether it would move ahead with the plan, the official said, adding that India was keen for a decision from the company soon.

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said it had strong interest in India, and that the CSC would be "a sustainable solution to concerns about India's existing domestic nuclear liability law".

India's plans for ramping up nuclear capacity have in the past fallen far short of targets and industry officials say that the aim to lift the share of nuclear power to a quarter of its energy mix, from barely 3 percent now, is very ambitious.

NO MORE TECHNICAL HURDLES

Later this week, India is expected to offer Russia a site in its southern state of Andhra Pradesh to build six reactors, on top of the six it is already expected to build in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, Indian and Russian officials have said.

Separately, India expects Japan, which supplies components used in most reactors, to ratify an agreement some time in the second quarter of 2016 to support its nuclear programme, another senior Indian government source said.

"There are no more technical hurdles in the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," the source said.

French nuclear company Areva, which uses Japanese components, also has a deal to build six reactors in India, although restructuring within that company was likely to delay construction until 2017, the first official said.

French utility EDF agreed earlier this year to buy a majority stake in Areva's reactor business. Areva has been in price negotiations with NPCIL for several months now, officials at the Indian operator told Reuters in November.

Areva did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

WESTINGHOUSE DEAL

Negotiators from Westinghouse and Indian operator NPCIL have held several rounds of talks on the nuclear plant in Mithi Virdi, the government official said.

NPCIL declined to comment on the negotiations. Federal minister for Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh told parliament this month that talks were going on with French and U.S. firms to arrive at project proposals. He offered no details.

But the government source said Westinghouse and NPCIL were negotiating all six reactors in one go, instead of an earlier plan to strike deals for two at a time.

Construction of the roughly 1,100 MW reactors could begin later in 2016, the official, who is close to the negotiations, added.

The idea was to allow the Americans and the French, India's two close partners, to catch up with the Russians in its nuclear sector, the official said.

"This is a train that is moving soon," the official said.

($1 = 66.3250 rupees)

(Additional reporting by Tommy Wilkes and Doug Busvine in New Delhi, and Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Israel’s sea blockade of Gaza motivated by gas finds

Israel has accelerated the militarization of Gaza’s waters, barring Palestinians from accessing resources that lie offshore.

 Mohammed AsadAPA images

Charlotte Silver-22 December 2015

When Benjamin Netanyahu waived anti-monopoly laws to allow the development of large offshore gas reserves last week, the prime minister dismissed criticism by describing his action as imperative for Israel’s “national security.”

Israel’s Sea Blockade of Gaza Motivated by Gas Finds by Thavam Ratna

What does the Turkey-Israel detente mean for Hamas? 

Hamas officials say that they do not believe Turkey will abandon Gaza 
A billboard on a main street by the Ankara municipality to thank Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (AFP) 

Alex MacDonald-Wednesday 23 December 2015

The thawing of relations between Israel and Turkey could mark a significant shift in the power structures of the Middle East, particularly as both countries increasingly share similar policies on Syria and Iran.

However, questions have been raised about what the renewal of ties will mean for Turkey’s relationship with Hamas, the Palestinian movement that has received support from Ankara in recent times.

Little has emerged about a meeting between Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul on Saturday, but many assumed that the Hamas leader will have been pleased with the news that the Justice and Development party (AKP) government is in negotiations with Israel.

A Turkish source in Istanbul, speaking to Haaretz, defined the meeting as "private", and pointed out that Meshaal's visit had received little media attention.

However, according to a report on Ynet, the meeting helped organise the “voluntary” departure of Salah al-Arouri, the senior Hamas official who has been pinpointed by Israel as the major suspect behind the killings of three Israeli settler teens in June 2014, an incident which eventually spiralled into Israel launching a devastating 51-day assault on the Gaza Strip.

There have been conflicting reports as to Arouri's current whereabouts.

The major point of contention in the negotiations is the issue of the Gaza blockade, which Turkey has long stipulated as a major obstacle to any renewal of ties with Israel.

Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas official, said on Monday that news about the possible normalization of ties was “not happy news” unless Israel lifted the blockade, according to the Jerusalem Post.

However, Ahmed Yousef, a senior Hamas official and former political adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, told Middle East Eye that initial fears had been allayed by Turkish officials.

“In the beginning it sounded like it wasn’t good news, that it maybe surprised many of the people here in Gaza," he said, but added that he was now "happy to understand that there are no compromises on the three conditions".

“We believe that from what we know about the Turks, from what’s been said to our leaders, from all these statements and knowing the Turkish people that their hearts and minds are with the Palestinian people, there is nothing that will be compromised on the three conditions and nothing will hurt the Palestinian cause.

“Turkey will stand firmly behind the Palestinian people and especially behind Hamas.”

Turkey-Israel relations were frozen in 2010 following the Israeli assault on Mavi Marmara, the flagship of an aid flotilla organised by a Turkish charity to bring supplies to Gaza. The attack resulted in the deaths of nine people. The charity had been attempting to break the eight-year blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The six ships, organised by the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation and Free Gaza Movement, were part of a flotilla that carried supplies intended to help repair Gaza following Israel's 2009 war on the coastal enclave in which more than 1,400 Palestinians, largely civilians, were killed.

Following the collapse in Turkey-Israel relations, Turkey has long maintained that three conditions must be met before ties could be renewed: a public apology from Israel, compensation for the families of the victims, and the lifting of the blockade on Gaza.

The first two conditions have been met at various points - the third condition, however, is a sticking point.

“I can’t see in the near future an agreement happening because the Israelis will not give the Turks what they want in Gaza,” another senior Hamas official, who asked to remain anonymous, told MEE. “The Turks want to break the siege and the Israelis will not give this.”

He said that, despite the push to renewed talks, the AKP government had always maintained a commitment to the lifting of the siege, though there could be space for wiggle-room, as had been suggested by Erdogan in 2013.

“Until now they have been saying ‘we will not forget Gaza, we will not do any deal without Gaza',” the Hamas official told MEE.

“To what extent they will stress the lifting of the siege completely or to have something in between I’m not sure.”

Longterm allies

Unlike other Muslim-majority countries, Turkey has had a close relationship with Israel since its establishment in 1948.

Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognise the newly formed state and has maintained security and intelligence ties for decades.

Israeli Mossad agents are even thought to have been instrumental in the capture of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya in 1999.

Even during the recent breakdown in relations between the two countries, trade between the two has remained steady and even “boomed” according to some local media reports.

Data from the Turkish Statistics Institute showed Turkish exports to Israel jumped to $US2.92 billion in 2014 from $US1.5 billion in 2009, while imports from Israel increased to $US2.7 billion from $US1.1 billion in the same period.

The AKP’s attempt to mend relations with Israel comes at a time when Turkey has found itself caught in a diplomatic storm over the shooting down of a Russian fighter jet in November and the subsequent killing of the pilot by allied Turkmen militias.

Russia is Turkey’s second-largest trading partner. Russia supplies Turkey with 30 percent of its oil needs and 55 percent of its gas.

A breakdown in relations between the two countries means that there could be a need to find alternative partners in the region, said Turkey analyst Ankarali Jan.

“They need alternative sources of energy in case Russia turns Iran against them, and they're realising how isolated they are in the Middle East,” he said.

Jan told MEE that senior leaders in the AKP believed that the Israelis are able to exert an enormous influence on regional politics and that they would attempt a “two-track diplomacy” approach by engaging both Israel and Hamas.

“Even before they came to power, the first thing [ally-turned-enemy Fethullah] Gul and Erdogan did before setting up the AKP was to do a tour of Israeli lobby thinktanks in the US,” he said.

“I think they might believe that if they can make themselves useful to Israel, their international reputation might be rescued from the doldrums, especially in the US.”

A 'haven' for Muslims

A report in Al-Monitor on Monday claimed that the process for reconciliation between the two countries was leading to the effective shutting down of Hamas' offices in Istanbul - it also suggested that this was not something Meshaal and other Hamas leaders would be too unhappy about.

The article claimed that Arouri was viewed as running a "rogue branch" in Istanbul and that the dismantling of operations coupled with a potential easing of the Gaza blockade could sell reconciliation to the Hamas leadership.

"Erdogan is dangling two carrots in front of Meshaal: a significant easing of the blockade (which Israel is interested in implementing as long as there are Turkish assurances that weapons and ammunition will not be smuggled into Gaza) and the dismantling of a rogue branch office in Istanbul that has been going over the heads of the movement leadership," wrote Shlomi Eldar.

However, Ahmed Yousef denied that Turkey would shut its door to Hamas, or that it would meet Israel's demand that Arouri be banned from Turkey.

"Turkey is a safe haven for all the Muslims who’ve been oppressed by their governments or because of the occupation," he said. "Turkey hosts many of the Palestinians who have been freed from the Israeli jails - Arouri was among those for a while, but now is not staying in Turkey.

"Turkey will never accept anybody putting any conditions on them regarding hosting or being a safe haven for Muslims."

A poll by Pew Research stated that while 80 percent of Turks held negative views of Hamas, 86 percent also held a negative view of Israel.

Ankarali Jan said that, in spite of the potential contradictions, Erdogan’s supporters were unlikely to rebuke him too strongly for renewing relations with Israel.

“They don't have many other options at the moment,” he said. “They are pro-Palestinian, but they're not going to leave the party over it.”

“Palestinians won't believe that Erdogan is really pro-Israeli either ... among Hamas supporters the cult of Erdogan is absolutely thriving.”

A Lonely Lawyer

by Uri Avnery






( December 22, 2015, Tel Aviv, Sri Lanka Guardian) By now every Israeli has seen the TV clip several times – showing a 14-year old Arab girl being shot dead near the central market of Jewish Jerusalem.

The story is well known: two sisters, 14 and 16 years old, have decided to attack Israelis. The clip, taken by a security camera, shows one of them, clad in traditional Arab garb, jumping around on the sidewalk, brandishing a pair of scissors.

A Lonely Lawyer by Thavam Ratna

Syria’s Stalingrad

Assad hopes to turn Homs into a symbol of his government's resurgent fortunes — but it might end up as an icon of his utter brutality.

BY THANASSIS CAMBANIS-DECEMBER 23, 2015

HOMS, Syria — More than four years of relentless shelling and shooting have ravaged beyond recognition this city, which once served as the symbolic capital of the revolution.

The buildings hang in tatters, concrete floors collapsed like sandcastles, twisted reinforced metal bars and window frames creaking in the wind like weather vanes. The only humans are occasional military guards, huddling in the foundations of stripped buildings. Deep trenches have been dug in thoroughfares to expose rebel tunnels. Everywhere the guts of buildings and homes face the street, their private contents slowly melting in the elements. Ten-foot weeds have erupted through the concrete.

Syria’s Stalingrad by Thavam Ratna

MP demands answers over Muslim family denied entry to USA

Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy calls on the Prime Minister to demand more information about why a British Muslim family were barred from flying to California for a holiday that had cost them £9,000.

WEDNESDAY 23 DECEMBER 2015

Mohammad Tariq Mahmood and 10 members of his family were already at Gatwick Airport on 15 December, ready to board a Norwegian Airlines flight to Los Angeles, when they were approached by officials from the US Department of Homeland Security and told their authorisation to travel had been cancelled.

They had been planning to visit Disneyland in California.

Mr Mahmood said no reason had been given, but told the Guardian newspaper that he thought it was "because of the attacks on America - they think every Muslim poses a threat".

Ms Creasy, the family's MP, said she had not received any further information about why they had been barred and was therefore asking David Cameron to intervene to find out more.

Without knowledge of the reasons behind the decision, the family will be unable to recoup any of the £9,000 they had spent on the trip as the airline is not liable for anyone refused entry to the USA.

'Trumped'

Writing in the Guardian, Ms Creasy said "the vacuum created by a refusal to provide any context for these decisions is fuelling resentment and debate.

"Online and offline discussions reverberate with the growing fear that UK Muslims are being 'trumped' - that widespread condemnation of Donald Trump's call for no Muslim to be allowed into America contrasts with what is going on in practice."

Ms Creasy said that other people in her constituency had come forward to say they had also been abruptly refused entry to the USA.

She adds "for the sake of national security and national cohesion, the government must not look the other way as our citizens increasingly fear the possibility of flying sanctions without reparation."

On 17 December, Bengali-born imam and broadcaster Ajmal Masroor posted on Facebook a description of how he was barred from a Virgin Atlantic flight to the USA, despite having a valid visa and having arrived with plenty of time for security checks.

Hearts and minds

Mr Masroor wrote "I'm baffled, annoyed and angry at the moment. USA has the right to issue and revoke visa - I fully understand that. However, not forwarding any reasons infuriates ordinary people.

"It does not win the hearts and minds of people, it turns them off."

Mr Masroor later posted a link on his Facebook page to an audio recording of a sermon he had given on 13 December at the Palmers Green Mosque in which he discussed the hostility currently being faced by many Muslims.

In it he said "Muslims are not wanted anywhere". Referring to the proposal by Republican Presidential frontrunner Donald Trump that all Muslims be barred from America, Mr Mansoor said "these are very challenging times".