Image of MP Lee Anderson (R) and Prime Minister Rishi Sunk (L)

Michaela Cullen

Lee Anderson has been accused of Islamophobia and is being assessed by the Metropolitan Police for hate speech.

Anderson claimed in a GB News interview that Muslim populations have taken over the city of London.

Accusing London Mayor Sadiq Khan of being controlled by Islamists, the Ashfield MP said that Khan had “given our capital city away to his mates.”

Anderson has since been suspended from the Conservative Party.

LEE ANDERSON’S COMMENTS

Anderson’s comments came in response to pro-Palestine protests across London, where Londoners criticised the government’s Gaza policies and called for support for a ceasefire.

Anderson told GB News that “people are just turning up in their thousands, and doing anything they want, and they are laughing at our police. This stems with Khan, he’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”

In a follow-up interview with GB News, Anderson said: “When I see the scenes out in Parliament Square last Wednesday, where we have thousands of people, and it happens every Wednesday, now it’s almost every Wednesday.

“We’ve seen threats, we’ve seen wicked chants, we’ve seen all sorts of horrible things said on these marches around our great city, in our great city, around Parliament.”

The Conservative Party has historically faced media criticism for Islamophobic behaviour.

In 2021, former British PM Boris Johnson issued an apology over a 2018 newspaper column in which he referred to women wearing burqas as “going around looking like letterboxes” and likened their appearance to bank robbers.

“These comments pour fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred.”

During his premiership, David Cameron announced his plans to tackle ‘extremism,’ saying: “Europe needs to wake up to what is happening in our own countries. We need to be absolutely clear on where the origins of these terrorist attacks lie – and that is the existence of an ideology, Islamist extremism.”

His comments were heavily criticised by human rights groups as ill-judged and patronising.

In 2016, Cameron announced a £20m fund to teach Muslim women English and warned that migrant spouses who failed language tests may have to leave the UK. The plan was criticised for stigmatising Muslim women after he said non-English speakers could be “more susceptible” to extremism.

NO DEFINITION, NO ASSESSMENT

Khan responded to Anderson’s interview, saying: “These comments pour fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred.”

He described Anderson’s comments as “Islamophobic, anti-Muslim and racist” and posted to X: “Using the language of hate and division is shameful and dangerous. Enough is enough.”

A report by Tell MAMA UK found rapid increases of anti-Muslim hate following the escalation of war in Gaza.

While the report found anti-Muslim cases have been on the rise since the 2016 Brexit referendum, cases are now at an all-time high.

Since November 2023, the Muslim Council of Britain reported a 140 per cent increase in Islamophobic offences in London and say attacks are spreading beyond the city’s borders.

Khan expressed disappointment at PM Rishi Sunak’s response: “I am unclear why Rishi Sunak and members of his Cabinet aren’t calling this out and condemning this.”

Khan continued: “I’m afraid the deafening silence from Rishi Sunak and from the Cabinet is condoning this racism and confirms to many people across the country there is a hierarchy when it comes to racism in this country.”

“Sunak and his government are therefore able to deny allegations of Islamophobia.”

While Sunak has since called Anderson’s comments “ill-judged,” he has not condemned them as Islamophobic.

Currently, there is no official definition of Islamophobia in the UK.

The closest to an official definition was created in 2019 by the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims. It said: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”

Despite calls from the Labour Party to officially adopt this definition, in 2021, the government said the definition was “not in line with the Equality Act 2010 and would have severe consequences for freedom of speech.”

Sunak and his government are therefore able to deny allegations of Islamophobia without an official definition.

A DIVISION IN POLITICS

Following Anderson’s suspension, Sunak addressed the issue of extremism, saying: “We must live together united by shared values and a shared commitment to this country.”

His sentiments have been criticised by the Muslim rights charities as attempts to slander peace protests across London.

The Muslim Council of Britain said Sunak’s speech was “peppered with ill-defined warnings of extremism from ‘Islamists’ and the far-right,” and failed to address the “divisive and hateful rhetoric” against British-Muslim citizens.

The council also reported the Conservative Party has refused to ascribe exactly why Anderson was wrong for claiming that Khan was allegedly “controlled by Islamists.”

They found that 58 per cent of party members believed Islam to be a threat to British way of life.

https://twitter.com/MuslimCouncil/status/1764636328677822775

Anderson has since defected to the right-wing party Reform UK, becoming their first ever MP.

Speaking at a press conference, Anderson announced: “Reform UK has offered me the chance to speak out in parliament on behalf of millions of people up and down the country who feel that they’re not being listened to.”

Anderson said he was “prepared to gamble on myself” because he said he knew “how many people support Reform and what they have to say.”

Reform UK’s leader, Richard Tice, has welcomed Anderson’s defection.

Tice said: “Lee Anderson may have been clumsy in his precise choice of words, but his sentiments are supported by millions of British citizens, including myself.”

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Featured image courtesy of on Flickr. No changes were made to this image. Image licence found here.

Michaela is currently in her third year studying Journalism at the University of Technology Sydney. She has contributed to the UTS newsroom Central News with a range of political and social justice stories. She is also the 2023 Australian Foreign Policy Fellow for Young Australians in International Affairs and Editor-in-Chief of the United Nations Youth NSW Global Advocate Magazine.

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