On Monday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refuted a Conservative lawmaker’s claim that Islamists control the mayor of London and claimed his party does not condone discrimination against Muslims.
After Lee Anderson’s remarks against Mayor Sadiq Khan, Sunak faced pressure to denounce Islamophobia in escalating political strain in Britain due to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Islamists, according to the Conservative MP, “got control” of Khan and the city of London. Khan belongs to the opposition Labour Party and is a Muslim.
Sunak Rebukes Anderson’s Islamophobic Comments
The day after he made the remarks, on Saturday, Anderson, a combative populist, was suspended from the Conservative Party group in Parliament. These remarks were not appropriate. On Monday, Sunak said on BBC radio that “they were wrong.” “Words matter, especially in this high-tension environment that we find ourselves in, and I believe it is our collective responsibility to choose them carefully.”
Sunak responded quickly when asked if his party had an issue with Islamophobia, saying, “No, of course it doesn’t. “Any form of bigotry or racism is intolerable. We have to eradicate it wherever we see it because it is not British,” he continued.
Since the Israel-Gaza crisis started in October, hundreds of thousands of people have participated in pro-Palestinian marches every weekend. Opponents of the Conservatives have accused them of purposefully inflaming tensions during an election year.
Khan Accused of Tolerating London’s Anti-Israel Demonstrations
In November, Sunak dismissed Suella Braverman, the previous Home Secretary, for referring to the rallies as “hate marches” and charging the police with showing excessive tolerance. Most of the protests have been nonviolent, but a few dozen people have been arrested for reportedly supporting Hamas, an organization that is outlawed in Britain, with placards and chanting.
Jewish organizations and several legislators claim that the large-scale marches have made life in London frightening for Jews. Anderson blamed the mayor in an interview with the right-wing television program GB News for the police response to the protests. “Khan and London are under the control of the Islamists,” he said, alleging that Khan had “given our capital city away to his mates.”
Due to the suspension, Anderson—who served as the Conservative Party’s deputy chairman until last month—will now serve as an independent member of Parliament unless he decides to join another political organization, such the right-wing Reform UK, formerly known as the Brexit Party.
Labour stated that the Conservatives needed to do more to combat bigotry, pointing out that Anderson’s suspension was due to his refusal to provide an apology rather than his initial remarks against Khan. Khan said in an article for the Evening Standard that Anderson’s remarks had “poured petrol on the fire” of anti-Muslim sentiment. “A deliberate, dangerous political strategy – a strategy to weaponize anti-Muslim prejudice for electoral gain,” he claimed certain Conservatives were pursuing.
Reiterating his criticism of the mayor, Anderson declared on Monday that he would not offer an apology and claimed that Khan had “stood by and allowed our police to turn a blind eye to the disgusting scenes around Parliament.”
Palestine or Israelis: Parsing the Anti-Semitic Slogan
That seemed to be a reference to a pro-Palestinian demonstration that took place atop Parliament’s Big Ben clock tower last week, during which the phrase “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” was projected. While others view the phrase as a demand for Israel’s destruction, many Palestinians interpret it as a plea for an independent state and an end to decades of Israeli military control over millions of Palestinians.
The number of reports of antisemitic and anti-Muslim incidents in Britain has increased significantly since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which started the Gaza War. The House of Commons Speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, broke from parliamentary tradition last week by permitting votes on motions from three different parties, which led to the Conservative and Scottish National Party’s walkout, ruining an attempt to hold a vote in favor of a ceasefire.
In an atmosphere of intimidation and menace, Hoyle said he had been working to make sure that every lawmaker had the opportunity to express their opinions. Right now, there are demands for him to step down.
This week’s special election for the seat of Rochdale in northwest England has also been overturned by the Gaza conflict. Azhar Ali, the Labour Party’s nominee for Thursday’s election, was disowned for saying that Israel used the October 7 attack by Hamas as justification to invade Gaza.
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