A Tory cabinet member was “chided” for not visiting a Mosque by a BBC presenter following a rise in anti Muslim hatred. The discussion on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme centred around the comments that had been made by MP now-suspended Lee Anderson about Labour mayor Sadiq Khan.
Anderson, a former deputy chairman, had claimed that London is being “run by Islamists” in the wake of extremism on the city’s streets. Today presenter Mishal Husain grilled Tory Transport Secretary of State Mark Harper on what the party is doing to tackle anti Muslim sentiment in the UK following the start of the war in Gaza that started on October 7 last year.
She said: “Both Islamophobia and antisemitism have rocketed since October 7 in the UK but the government has given £10m towards tackling antisemitism while no funding has been pledged to tackle similar attacks on Muslims.”
Ms Husain then asked Mr Harper what action is being taken by his party on anti Muslim hatred asking him if he sees anti Muslim hatred and antisemitism as “equally abhorrent”.
Mr Harper says that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took “very firm” action against Lee Anderson and added that he “made comments that he shouldn’t have done”. He then called Mr Anderson’s comment “wrong” and “not true” and said that the Mayor of London’s record was “terrible” without needing to “make things up about him”.
Ms Husain then goes on to ask why there wasn’t an independent advisor to the Government on this issue of Islamophobia and if the Prime Minister has been to a mosque since taking on the role.
She then asks: “Have you been to a mosque since September 7 and the explosion in antisemitism and Islamophobia?”
Mr Harper said: “No I haven’t been to either a mosque or a Jewish temple. My constituency is not one that has either.”
But Mr Harper said that he frequently attends church in his capacity as an MP but is then pressed further on the question with the presenter saying “don’t you think you should?” given that he is a member of the cabinet.
One journalist called the interview “hilarious” on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Journalist Colin Brazier said: “Hilarious interview on BBC Radio 4 Today program just now, as Tory MP was chided by the presenter for not attending a mosque since the attacks against Israel on October 7th.
“The MP’s defence, that he didn’t have any mosques in his constituency, was airily dismissed as irrelevant.”
