El Conservative British party has found itself engulfed in a fresh internal scandal following remarks by some of its members against the Muslim community. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak publicly addressed the weekend controversy on Monday, responding to statements from MP Lee Anderson, a former party vice president and a hardline faction member, who asserted that Islamists have “taken control” of London due to the mayor, Labour’s Sadiq Khan, who is of Pakistani Muslim origin. Sunak labeled Anderson’s comments as “unacceptable” and insisted there is no Islamophobia problem within the party.
“I think racism and prejudice of any kind are entirely unacceptable and we must eradicated them”, the prime minister told the BBC in an interview on Monday. “And it is up to all of us, especially members of Parliament, not to inflame our debates in a way that harms others”, he added. Yet accusations that the party leadership has applied a double standard when condemning antisemitism and Islamophobia have intensified in recent hours. Khan himself challenged Anderson for “adding fuel to the fire of hatred against Muslims” during a time of high tensions in the United Kingdom over the Gaza crisis.
Ongoing criticisms
A number of party voices have criticized Anderson’s stance, and the Conservative whip has suspended the MP for refusing to apologise, even as some colleagues argued in his defence and accused Khan of failing to control the large pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London, which largely unfolded peacefully despite some disruptions. Critics within the party, particularly among its hardline wing, have repeatedly questioned the leadership’s handling of the demonstrations. Former Home Secretary Suella Braverman argued recently in an interview with a leading national newspaper that Islamists are “in charge” in the United Kingdom.
Within the Conservative fold, other prominent voices have pressed Sunak to acknowledge the existence of Islamophobia and to take stronger action to combat it. Sayeeda Warsi, a former Conservative minister, urged the prime minister to name the problem plainly in statements to the press. Speaking to a major national newspaper, Warsi asked why the prime minister cannot use the words antisemitism and Islamophobia with clarity, and urged more decisive steps to address racial and religious intolerance.
Rising tensions
The climate of tension has spilled into politics, sparking internal battles within both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party, which has struggled to present a united front in condemning attacks on Israel. Even the Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, has found himself touched by the controversy in recent days. Some MPs have voiced concern about the surge in threats against lawmakers, linked in part to incendiary rhetoric from public figures on both sides of the debate.
Street-level tensions have also grown, with watchdog groups noting a sharp rise in hate incidents since the Gaza crisis began last October. One organization tracking Islamophobic crimes reports a tripling of incidents against Muslims compared with the same period a year earlier. In contrast, a major Jewish community safety group documented over four thousand hate incidents in 2023, a significant increase from the previous year when figures stood at just over sixteen hundred.