Sir Keir Starmer has called for a senior Conservative who said Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square was “an act of domination” to be sacked.
The prime minister described Nick Timothy’s comments as “utterly appalling” and told Tory leader Kemi Badenoch that she should denounce his words and “sack him” as shadow justice secretary.
Speaking at prime minister’s questions Sir Keir said he had never heard the Conservatives call out anything other than Muslim events, which led him to conclude “the Tory party has got a problem with Muslims”.
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But Ms Badenoch defended her shadow minister, saying he was “defending British values”.
Mr Timothy posted a video of hundreds of Muslims praying in Trafalgar Square on Monday evening as they celebrated iftar, the meal that breaks the Ramadan fast.
London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan hosted the event, and he could be seen praying with others and giving a speech in which he celebrated Jewish, Christian, Hindu and atheists who joined them.
Mr Timothy, who a chief of staff for Theresa May when she was PM, wrote: “Too many are too polite to say this but mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination.
“The adhan [call to prayer] – which declares there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger – is, when called in a public place, a declaration of domination.”
He said “these rituals” should be performed in mosques “but they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions”.
“I am not suggesting everybody at Trafalgar Square last night is an Islamist. But the domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook,” he added.
“It was an act of domination and therefore division. It shouldn’t happen again.”
‘London will always be a place for everyone’
Sir Sadiq hit back at Mr Timothy by posting pictures of Monday night’s gathering along with photos in Trafalgar Square of crowds celebrating Christian Easter, Hindu Diwali, Sikh Vaisakhi and Jewish Hannukah.
“London is, and will always be, a place for everyone. #UnityOverDivision,” he wrote on X.
Former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve described Mr Timothy’s comments as a “very odd post from a Conservative who says he believes in freedom of expression under law and is a principal spokesman of the Free Speech Union”.
He asked if he was advocating to “enact discriminatory legislation targeted at Muslims”.
‘Stop fanning flames of division’
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told Mr Timothy to “stop fanning the flames of division” as he too pointed out Sikhs, Jews, Hindus and Christians “are all invited to mark religious festivals on Trafalgar Square by Sadiq Khan”.
Lucy Powell, deputy leader of the Labour Party, called it “an extreme reaction” as she said people of all religions working together is the “real Britain, not the desperate hatred being whipped up here by a leading Tory”.
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The Passion Play is performed in Trafalgar Square every Easter. Pic: Reuters
Support for Timothy
But Mr Timothy was defended by Tory colleagues. Shadow transport secretary Richard Holden told Sky News he thought mass prayer in public places can be an act of domination “in certain circumstances for all sorts of different groups”.
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake wrote on X: “We support Nick Timothy 100%.”
Mr Timothy doubled down on Wednesday and accused people of “wilful misunderstanding” which he said “says everything about the people behind the ‘Islamophobia’ definition”.
He said the point was not that Muslims gathered on Trafalgar Square but that “mass ritual prayer in public – in this case next to a church – is an act of domination”.
“So is the public call of the adhan, which explicitly denies other religions includes Christianity – that is the difference,” he said.
He accused Mr Grieve and Labour MPs of failing to “engage with the substance”, and said “people like Dominic can’t work out why the ideological world they built is falling apart”.
