Anderson’s mistake was to forget Labour weaponises race and faith

LEE ANDERSON’S comments came at the end of a tumultuous week with a controversial vote on the Israel and Gaza situation. Angry calls from many Conservatives and members of the SNP regarding the position of the Speaker all added to what was a tense political atmosphere. This followed yet more protests outside Parliament.

It isn’t right that we now have a situation where some people don’t feel safe in our capital city, particularly on Saturdays. There are definitely questions to be asked about why these protests have been allowed to continue in the manner they have.

But they aren’t limited to “Islamists” – they are interspersed with the far Left. Previously we saw it with Black Lives Matter.

What makes it even worse is many of these protests have seen Labour MPS share a platform with and speak in support of these groups. My inbox was full of emails from angry constituents when they saw a stage being set up on Whitehall and people climbing on the Cenotaph. This all gives the impression of a lack of control. It is quite legitimate to ask questions of London’s mayor, who has responsibility for policing in the capital.

There are many things Sadiq Khan can be criticised for. He has pandered to every politically correct cause, has failed to tackle knife crime and has failed to build the houses that so many young people in our capital have been crying out for. His solution to problems with transport seems to be spending millions of pounds on renaming train lines after various trendy causes.

London is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, including many visitors from Muslim countries. I am sure they are as horrified as anybody else when they have to walk past protesters with bright pink hair and rings through their noses shouting abuse at Jewish people and holding offensive placards. They are probably equally bemused to see anti-semitic phrases being beamed onto the Houses of Parliament, with seemingly nothing done to stop it.

It is incumbent upon us to call these issues out, as it is also incumbent on us to do something about them. The safety of MPS being one. Threats come in all forms, which I know myself after receiving a number of them over the years. But the threat from Islamist terror is one that we must not back away from. We must not be silenced by those who do not wish to face up to these problems.

This comes to the crux of Lee Anderson having the whip removed. This is a complex issue and one I am now able to write about at leisure and in detail.

When you are doing a television interview it is sometimes simply not possible to go into such depth and it is far more likely that your unscripted words can be misconstrued.

Does Mr Anderson think Mr Khan is an “Islamist”? No, of course he doesn’t. Does he think that Islamists are his “mates”. No, don’t be daft. Mr Khan is a terrible Mayor for many reasons, but he is neither of those things. Had Lee had longer to explain he would have no doubt made the same points regarding being soft on various groups and worrying about the backlash within the Labour party and with their supporters. He would have been able to highlight the failures with his oversight of policing in our capital. It is also conveniently ignored that he mentioned Keir Starmer in the same interview.

Both Starmer and Khan have represented some pretty awful people during their legal careers. Mates? No. But they were happy to invoice them. These are arguments that have been made in Parliament many times by others.

But unfortunately he didn’t have that luxury, leading to detractors being able to interpret his words as they wished and to level accusations of “Islamophobia” and even some of racism. This led to a disingenuous and coordinated pile-on from Labour MPS, serving as a useful distraction in the media from their own problems.

Definitions of “Islamophobia” are highly flawed and subjective, including the one promoted by MEND and adopted by Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. A far better term, as the Conservatives currently use, is “anti-muslim hatred”. I think we all agree this sort of discrimination is abhorrent and I know Lee does too. In fact, this definition is in line with the UK’S laws.

We are very proud of this country’s commitment to religious freedom, but at the same time we are also, quite rightly, free to criticise religion too.

There are many moderate Muslims, representing the vast majority in this country, who are concerned that the MEND definition is an obstacle towards tackling extremism and criticising those who adopt the political stances of Islamism. It simply shuts down legitimate debate.

All this left the Government in a difficult position with the inevitable media storm and confected outrage and it’s understandable they would want to end this narrative quickly.

If anything Lee was guilty of forgetting that Labour will shamelessly weaponise race and religion. They would rather engage in identity politics than address the actual issue.

Lee Anderson is not only valued by colleagues but is also a hugely popular figure with the public, mainly because he understands their concerns and speaks with their voice. He is human like the rest of us. Like me, I am sure they want to see the return of one of our best campaigners and most dedicated MPS as soon as possible.