Speaking on GB News on 23 February, the MP for Ashfield Lee Anderson claimed Islamists have got control of Sadiq Khan, London, and Keir Starmer.
His comments came in response to former Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s claim that Islamists now had control of Britain. Two days prior to Anderson’s remarks, pro-Palestine protests in Westminster saw ‘from the river to the sea’ (paraphrased from ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’) projected onto the Houses of Parliament. This is a statement that some critics have described as being anti-semitic due to a perception that it calls for the destruction of Israel. Around 200,000 people attended a separate protest days earlier. His wider criticisms were of the Metropolitan Police’s perceived lax attitude to these protests, for which he held Khan responsible. The Home Secretary James Cleverly was among those emphasising the separation between day-to-day police operations and Khan’s long-term policies for London as a whole.
In response, Khan called Anderson’s words ‘anti-Muslim, racist and Islamophobic’. Anderson refused to apologise. He was suspended from the Conservative Party the following day. Sunak admitted Anderson’s language was ‘wrong and unacceptable’ but didn’t deem it Islamophobic. The Muslim Council of Britain welcomed his suspension but saw it only as a response to widespread public disgust.
Right-wing media outlets Talk TV and GB News made little attempt to even define the term ‘Islamist’ in their coverage of these events. To clarify, an Islamist is someone who advocates for fundamental Islamic law to influence politics and society. Both Anderson’s remarks and media coverage seemed to equate being pro-Palestinian, or simply being a Muslim, with being an Islamist. His claims are undoubtedly Islamophobic, but the Tories were determined to argue the definition of Islamophobia instead.
Suella Braverman is an infamous voice in the party, with her statements about migrants invading the country and describing homelessness as a ‘lifestyle choice’. Alarmingly, a poll of public reaction to her migrants showed half the country agreed with her. While some Tories, including Theresa May, took issue with Braverman’s language, some Conservative MPs claimed Braverman’s sentiments were echoed by their own constituents. Regardless, if you want something to boil your blood, scroll through Braverman’s Twitter feed.
With Labour way ahead in the polls, power-hungry Conservative MPs are vying for the leadership, foreseeing Sunak’s downfall after an election loss. Perhaps Anderson tried to show some cunning, rallying far-right support among party members ahead of a likely leadership election. Sunak may have perceived this as a threat to his leadership, so suspended him. Whether politically savvy or not, Anderson was fuelling the racist threats to British Muslims. The fact other inflammatory language has been, and will continue to be, unpunished is alarming.
This injection of vitriolic, divisive, populist nonsense from some Conservative MPs has to end, not only to protect their own reputation but most importantly to dignify our public discourse again. While Anderson’s suspension is generally a good thing, the Tories have kept pushing their controversial culture war rhetoric on certain issues. Sunak has provoked the trans community in recent weeks amidst record rates of transphobic hate crimes in England and Wales. Islamophobia and anti-semitism rates have also soared. The Government seem to have forgotten what civil unity is, and that they have a responsibility to address divisions, rather than inflame them for political gain.
Now I am by no means a Conservative. However, for our political system to properly function, the ruling party must be competent, measured, open-minded and accountable for their actions. The two main parties will obviously differ in their ideologies and policies. We should be able to vote for optimistic people. Reactionary division and hatred should never be a part of our politics.