Fuming Keir Starmer slams Tory over ‘completely appalling’ feedback and calls for sacking
Keir Starmer has called for Kemi Badenoch to sack her shadow justice secretary after he made “utterly appalling” comments about Muslims praying
Keir Starmer has lashed out at the Tories following Nick Timothy’s post on X(Image: https://members.parliament.uk/)
Keir Starmer has called for Kemi Badenoch to sack her shadow justice secretary after he made “utterly appalling” comments about Muslims praying.
Tory MP Nick Timothy has faced criticism after he posted a video of people – including London mayor Sadiq Khan – praying in Trafalgar Square, London. He claimed “mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination”.
The post sparked a huge online backlash. In a tense exchange during Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Starmer said he would have sacked Mr Timothy if he was in his team for spreading “poison and division”.
He told Ms Badenoch: “She appointed the shadow justice secretary. He said last night that Muslims praying in public, including the mayor of London, practicing his faith, are not welcome.
“He described it as an act of domination straight from the Islamist playbook. If he were in my team, he’d be gone. It’s utterly appalling. She should denounce his comments and she should sack him.”
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After the Tory leader said Mr Timothy was “defending British values”, the PM continued: “So her position is that the shadow justice secretary is defending British values when it says Muslims praying together in Trafalgar Square are not welcome.
“Even Tommy Robinson, I can hardly believe I’m saying this, said today that if the shadow justice secretary have made these hateful comments two years ago, the Conservative Party would have kicked him out. Now, Tommy Robinson isn’t some sort of moral signpost, he was pointing out how much their party has changed.
“They are more inclined to his views and he’s right about that. The fact that he’s sitting on her frontbench shows she’s too weak and has got absolutely no judgement.”
He later added: “The only conclusion is the Tory party has got a problem with Muslims.”
In a post on X on Tuesday night, Mr Timothy wrote: “Too many are too polite to say this. But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination. The adhan – which declares there is no god but allah and Muhammad is his messenger – is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination. Perform these rituals in mosques if you wish. But they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions.”
He added: “I am not suggesting everybody at Trafalgar Square last night is an Islamist. But the domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook.”
Mr Timothy doubled down on his post on Wednesday, saying: “The wilful misunderstanding in this post says everything about the people behind the ‘Islamophobia’ definition.” He accused No10 of instructing Labour MPs to criticise his comments.
