Rishi Sunak must take Islamophobia as seriously as any other prejudice

Editorial: The government was quick to condemn the threat of violence against MPs but slow to condemn hatred in its own ranks

Lee Anderson attacked Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, saying that ‘Islamists … have got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London’ (Getty)

Ministers were quick to condemn Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker, for giving in, as they saw it, to threats of violence against MPs. Sir Lindsay appeared to have changed the rules of parliament under pressure from MPs who feared for their safety if they were not allowed to vote for Labour’s compromise motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

When pro-Palestinian demonstrators are guilty of intimidation or antisemitism, Rishi Sunak is rightly prompt and forthright in denunciation. Yet the prime minister seems to be slower to speak out when his own MPs express Islamophobic sentiments.

Lee Anderson, until recently Mr Sunak’s red wall mascot as a deputy chair of the Conservative Party, disgraced himself on Friday in an interview on GB News, a TV channel with its own questionable record. Mr Anderson attacked Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, saying that “Islamists … have got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London”.