Sunak Accused of ‘Harbouring Extremists’ as Islamophobia Row Escalates
Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been accused of “being complicit” in a shocking wave of Islamophobic racism in the wake of a blatant attack on the London mayor from Conservative Party’s former deputy chairman Lee Anderson.
Labour leader Keir Starmer accused Sunak of harboring “extremists in his party” and other senior Conservatives were condemned for “toxic” rhetoric.
Starmer’s accusation came after the suspension of Anderson, who had claimed London Mayor Sadiq Khan was under the control of “Islamists” and following an article by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman who said in an article that “the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge” in the UK.
The Islamophobic attacks followed a decision last week by the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, in which he broke a tradition by permitting an amendment by the Labour Party to a Scottish National Party (SNP) motion that called an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
Hoyle later on apologized and said he “regretted” the decision, which he contented he only made in the name of protecting some MPs who were under great pressure from his constituents to call a cease-fire. But the SNP motion passed the House of Commons with that amendment to demand an “immediate humanitarian cease-fire,” losing somewhat its intended effect.
The Islamophobic politics went further last week in British politics as former Prime Minister Liz Truss remained silent at a US event where a staunch Islamophobic and xenophobic figure Tommy Robinson former leader of the racist English Defence League (EDL) group and a founder of PEGIDA UK — was hailed as a hero.
