UK Conservatives suspend a lawmaker after he accused London’s mayor of being controlled by Islamists

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The U.Okay.’s governing Conservative Party has suspended ties with one if its lawmakers after he accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of being controlled by Islamists, as tensions over the Israel-Hamas warfare roil British politics.

The occasion mentioned on Saturday that Lee Anderson was suspended after he refused to apologize for remarks made about Khan in a tv interview on Friday. The motion implies that Anderson, a deputy chairman of the Conservatives till final month, will sit in Parliament as an unbiased.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and different senior Conservative leaders had come below rising stress to reject the feedback, which the chairwoman of the opposition Labour Party referred to as “unambiguously racist and Islamophobic.”

The controversy comes because the Israel-Hamas warfare fuels tensions in British society. Pro-Palestinian marches in London have repeatedly drawn a whole lot of hundreds of demonstrators calling for a direct cease-fire, whilst critics describe the occasions as “antisemitic hate marches.” Figures launched during the last week present that each anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents have risen sharply since Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct. 7.

That anger has spilled over into Parliament, the place some lawmakers say they worry for his or her security after receiving threats over their positions on the battle in Gaza.

In his interview with GB News, Anderson criticized the police response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London, leveling the blame on Khan.

Anderson mentioned he didn’t “actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London.’’

Khan flatly rejected the allegations, telling the BBC that all forms of hatred need to be rejected, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and misogyny.

“My concern is there’ll be people across the country, people who are Muslim, or look like Muslims, who’ll be really concerned about entering into politics, because they know if these are the sorts of comments that are said against me by a senior Conservative, what chance do they have?” he mentioned.