Baroness Warsi calls on Rishi Sunak to break silence on Islamophobia row

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Tory peer Baroness Warsi is asking on Rishi Sunak to break his silence over an escalating Islamophobia row and to explicitly condemn anti-Muslim rhetoric inside the occasion.

In feedback described as “dangerous” by senior Tories, the occasion’s former deputy chair Lee Anderson claimed on Friday that “Islamists” have “got control” of London Mayor Sadiq Khan. He had the whip suspended the next day after he refused to apologise.

Baroness Warsi, who was a cupboard minister in David Cameron’s authorities, urged the prime minister to “find the language” to “call Islamophobia Islamophobia”.

She instructed the Guardian: “What is it about the prime minister that he can’t even call out anti-Muslim racism and anti-Muslim bigotry? Why can’t he just use those words?”

Asked if Mr Sunak ought to make some extent of denouncing Mr Anderson’s feedback as Islamophobia, Baroness Warsi stated: “Of course he should. If you can’t call racism racism, if you can’t call antisemitism antisemitism, and if you can’t call Islamophobia Islamophobia, then how are we going to fix it?”

The prime minister has up to now failed to deal with Mr Anderson’s feedback or surging Islamophobia throughout Britain, regardless of talking publicly a couple of rise in “prejudice and antisemitism”.

In an announcement issued following Mr Anderson’s suspension, Mr Sunak highlighted occasions of current weeks that “should not be tolerated”, together with pro-Palestinian protests held throughout the nation for the reason that 7 October assaults, which have been “hijacked by extremists”.

Mr Khan described Mr Anderson’s anti-Muslim rant on GB News as “Islamophobic, racist” and pouring “fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred”.

Mr Anderson, who was deputy Tory chairman till final month, stated on Saturday: “Following a call with the Chief Whip, I understand the difficult position that I have put both he and the Prime Minister in with regard to my comments. I fully accept that they had no option but to suspend the whip in these circumstances.”

However, talking to the BBC on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden refused to rule out the potential of Mr Anderson coming back from his suspension.

Remarks made by the previous residence secretary Suella Braverman in addition to the previous prime minister Liz Truss additionally drew criticism this week. Ms Braverman asserted that “Islamists are in charge” of Britain in a Daily Telegraph article on Thursday, whereas Ms Truss remained silent in an interview as Steve Bannon described the far-right’s Tommy Robinson as a “hero”.

Baroness Warsi stated: “There will always be people who hide behind the word Zionist, people with a long history of antisemitism who use the term Zionist when they actually mean Jews. It’s a very disingenuous form of antisemitism. And there are always people with a long history of anti-Muslim racism who will hide behind the word Islamist when they actually mean Muslims.”

After what it known as “a week of inflammatory statements and Islamophobia from senior figures in the party”, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) wrote to the Conservative Party on Sunday demanding an investigation into claims of “structural Islamophobia” inside its ranks.

It comes as new figures present the variety of Islamophobic incidents has skyrocketed for the reason that 7 October assault on Israel by Hamas and the retaliatory Israeli bombardment of Palestine. London charity Islamophobia Response Unit (IRU) stated there was a 365 per cent enhance in stories of Islamophobia in October.

A report earlier this week from Tell Mama – one other physique that information anti-Muslim hate incidents – discovered there have been 2,010 incidents between 7 October and seven February, greater than triple the 600 reported throughout the identical interval the yr earlier than.

Sir Keir Starmer stated it was proper that Mr Anderson was suspended from the occasion over the “appalling racist and Islamophobic outburst”. The Labour chief additionally challenged Mr Sunak over wider Islamophobia within the Conservative Party.

“What does it say about the prime minister’s judgment that he made Lee Anderson deputy chairman of his party?” Sir Keir stated.

He added: “Whether it is Liz Truss staying silent on Tommy Robinson or Suella Braverman’s extreme rhetoric, Rishi Sunak’s weakness means Tory MPs can act with impunity.”