'The extremists we should really fear are in the Conservative Party'
Spare me the dramatic outrage – particularly from the Tories - over Lee Anderson.
His racist remarks towards London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Muslims everywhere remain in keeping with the man Anderson is and the Tory government he represented. Anti-war protest is as old as it is legitimate.
In this country, millions of people, a sizeable number Jewish, many of them white British, have been as appalled by the killings of Palestinians over the past five months as they were at the October 7 massacre of Israelis. And yet Anderson, as Tory party vice-chair, described those voicing concern in London as “Islamists”.
His reprehensible claim that Khan has “given our capital city away to his mates” underscores the racist, far right tactic of conflating everyone Muslim, or opposing the killing, with being an extremist or supporting terrorism.
The Tory far right want to reach social media’s soundbite generation, the people taking only snippets of news from the net and not the full picture from traditional media. So for the avoidance of any doubt, let’s be clear: those heartbroken at the cycle of blood in the Middle East are ordinary people like you and me.
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London mayor Sadiq Khan (Facundo Arrizabalaga)None of us are supporters of Islamic fundamentalism, the definition of the term Islamist, the last time I checked. And yet spineless PM Rishi Sunak has only suspended Anderson. He hasn’t removed the whip from Suella Braverman, even though she too last week claimed “Islamists” were now “in charge” of Britain. And here’s why:
Extremists did take over the country years ago - but they aren’t Muslim or Islamist. They are in the Tory Party. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave the green light for his politicians to be overtly racially offensive under the thinly-veiled guise of "straight talking" in 2019. Back then he compared Muslim women wearing the Burqa to letterboxes.
When he refused to apologise, others on the far right realise they could get away with it too. Braverman gave one of the most bigoted, discriminatory speeches for decades last year. It was screened live by the BBC at the Tory Party Conference.
Many of the MPs criticising Anderson now were in the room applauding Braverman back then. The hypocrisy is breathtaking. The effects of the Tories’ pronouncements are playing out on social media and on our streets. Xenophobia, the fear being duplicitously stirred up by our odious government as a parting gift, is turning the country into a tinder box.
Like anti-semitism, cases of Islamophobia and racism are through the roof. The Government’s job is to dial it down, not ramp it up. It isn’t just what they say either. Braverman’s predecessors, Priti Patel and Theresa May (remember her "Go Home" vans?), conducted a hostile environment policy designed to purge this country of its Caribbean contingent.
The Windrush scandal deported Black British citizens unlawfully. Another home secretary, Sajid Javid, dramatically increased stop and search. The anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate revealed last April that a string of Tory councillors standing in local elections had been suspended for alleged racism and Islamophobia in recent years. This really is who they are.
Anderson will be claiming from the back benches to be continuing to speak for the ordinary person in the street. Thankfully the ordinary person in the street continues to be motivated by hope and not hate.
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