Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of ‘sucking up’ to Muslims to stem the loss of votes to the Green Party as the row over a mass public prayer deepened.
The Prime Minister on Wednesday called on the Conservative leader to sack a senior Tory who said that a mass Muslim prayer event in Trafalgar Square was an ‘act of domination and division’.
But on Thursday Ms Badenoch defended shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy and accused Sir Keir of ‘sucking up’ to the Muslim community after Labour’s by-election defeat in Gorton and Denton.
The Tory leader also accused the PM of ‘hypocrisy’ after it emerged he had previously pulled out of an event held by the group that organised the mass prayer over its ‘highly controversial’ views.
Meanwhile the furious war of words continued as Labour accused the Tories of ‘adopting Tommy Robinson endorsed views’ and Ms Badenoch of ‘cowardice’.
Mr Timothy sparked a row after he criticised an iftar – the meal that breaks the Ramadan fast – prayer event in London‘s Trafalgar Square on Monday that was hosted by London mayor Sadiq Khan.
‘Mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination,’ Mr Timothy said in a post on X.
He added: ‘Perform these rituals in mosques if you wish. But they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions.’
Kemi Badenoch accused the PM of ‘hypocrisy’ after it emerged he had previously pulled out of an event held by the group that organised the mass prayer over its ‘highly controversial’ views
The Prime Minister on Wednesday called on the Conservative leader to sack a senior Tory who said that a mass Muslim prayer event in Trafalgar Square was an ‘act of domination and division’
Members of the Muslim community pray on Monday ahead of the ‘Open Iftar’ Ramadan dinner event at Trafalgar Square
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday Sir Keir described the comments as ‘utterly appalling’ and called on the Tory leader to ‘sack him’ as shadow justice secretary.
But the Tory leader defended Mr Timothy’s comments on Thursday and said that we need to ensure religious expression is in line with British ‘values, norms, and beliefs’.
After a speech to launch the Conservatives’ local election campaign, she said: ‘This is a country that has always tolerated minority faiths and allowed people, including people of ethnic minorities, to live freely.
‘But this debate which Nick is having is not about freedom of religion. It is about how religion is expressed in a shared public space, and whether those expressions fit within the norms of a British culture.’
Ms Badenoch added: ‘As a woman, and especially as a woman from an ethnic minority who grew up in a country where Islam was very visible, I’m very uncomfortable with seeing women pushed to the back in the middle of Trafalgar Square in an event which is exclusionary.
‘This is not about stopping anyone from any religion from practicing their faith. We want to see religious festivities in Trafalgar Square, but they have to be inclusive and also respect British culture.
‘We need to make sure the religious expression is in conformity with our values, our norms, our beliefs, and sometimes that does mean say, “actually, no, that’s probably too much”.’
The mass prayer event on Monday was organised by the Ramadan Tent Project.
In April 2021 then-leader of the opposition Sir Keir pulled out of an event hosted by the group after the Board of Deputies of British Jews raised concerns about comments made by its chief executive. This was during the period that the Labour leader was attempting to repair the party’s relationship with the Jewish community.
Ms Badenoch said: ‘I will not take lectures from Keir Starmer or Labour on this because in 2021 Keir pulled out of an event organised by this very same group, who are highly controversial.
‘And he did so because he was sucking up to British Jews and the Board of Deputies to pretend that the Labor Party had changed. Now, in the wake of Gorton and Denton, he wants to suck up to a different community. This is the mother of all hypocrisy.’
However Labour last night accused the Tory leader of ‘cowardice on confronting anti-Muslim hostility in her party’.
Party chair Anna Turley said: ‘Kemi Badenoch used her local election launch to back her shadow justice secretary when she should have already sacked him. It’s shameful that she lacks any backbone and won’t condemn his despicable comments on Muslims.
‘The Tories have now joined Reform in the gutter by adopting Tommy Robinson endorsed views over Muslims peacefully praying in London. The majority of Brits – including many Conservatives – will rightly be appalled by it. It shows just how far the Tories have sunk.
‘London is a tolerant and diverse city. Labour will continue to proudly stand up for these values right across Britain.’
