Amid the geopolitical and economic ructions of the Iran war and even with the continuing fallout over Lord Mandelson, the most incendiary moment in Westminster this week concerned public prayers in Trafalgar Square.
The flashpoint was sparked by shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy sharing a video of London mayor Sadiq Khan with a group of men at the Iftar event, and posting that “mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination”.
The Tory frontbencher was forthright in his views: “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. Perform these rituals in mosques if you wish.
“But they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions. And given their explicit repudiation of Christianity they certainly do not belong in our churches and cathedrals.
“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.”
The reaction was almost immediate and explosive.
Sir Keir Starmer suggested that the Conservatives had a problem with Muslims and urged Kemi Badenoch to sack Timothy from the frontbench – a point the prime minister repeated on social media.
There have been six Iftar events in Trafalgar Square over the years, some of which the Mayor of London has previously attended. It is also not unusual for faith events to be held there, a point made by the deputy prime minister.
“Sikhs, Jews, Hindus and Christians are all invited to mark religious festivals on Trafalgar Square,” said David Lammy, accusing the shadow justice secretary of “fanning the flames of division” and the Labour Party’s chair accused the Tories of “adopting Tommy Robinson endorsed views over Muslims peacefully praying in London”.
Speaking to Italian outlet La Republica, Khan said he was “heartbroken”, “sad” and “angry” at Timothy’s remarks, adding: “I can understand why many British Muslims are scared by somebody who is so senior, who wants to be the Lord Chancellor, saying what he said.”
Several Labour MPs have also reported the shadow justice secretary to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, accusing him of making “deeply Islamophobic remarks”.
Other voices rallied to Timothy’s defence. Nadhim Zahawi, former Conservative chancellor – now a member of Reform UK – told the Sun’s Harry Cole Saves The West podcast that, despite being Muslim himself, the sight of praying in public made him “uncomfortable”.
He continued: “You're meant to pray in a mosque. That's what the mosques are there for… Why do we have to pray in the middle of the street?”
But beyond the debate over Timothy’s views, there is also a wider political context.
The Labour party is still badly bruised by the battering it took at the Gorton and Denton by-election last month.
The seat was won by a Green Party which was unashamed to use tactics Labour described as “sectarian” in appealing to Muslim voters there, notably Urdu-language campaign literature saying the government should be “punished” for Gaza.
(It should be noted, however, that Labour has previously had no objection to using leaflets in languages other than English and Welsh – including a Yiddish one in Stamford Hill in 2014.)
Given the pummelling by Zack Polanski’s party, it is not unreasonable to wonder if fear of further desertion by British Muslims at the ballot box has at least in part motivated the rush by senior Labour figures to condemn Timothy and the Conservatives with such vehemence.
Bear in mind, Labour insiders expect an almighty battering in May’s elections.
Party campaigners fear the worst in east London Boroughs with sizeable Muslim electorates where they expect to be put through the wringer. The dreaded prospect is losing historic Labour seats to independents and Green who will likely use the plight of the Palestinians as a stick with which to beat the government.
A key plank of the criticism of Labour’s position on Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is an interview Starmer gave to LBC four days after October 7, 2023 in which he said that Israel had the right to withhold water and power from Gaza.
In government, however, far from servitude to the “Israel Lobby” as some of their critics have suggested, Labour has restored funding to controversial aid agency Unrwa – Israel claims that at least 12 members of the organisation took part in atrocities on October 7 and that Hamas has infiltrated the agency’s facilities – prohibited some arms sales to Jerusalem, unilaterally recognised a Palestinian state and imposed sanctions on two Israeli ministers.
But despite all this – as well as the huge volume of questions from Labour MPs on Gaza at the expense of other topics, posing for photographs with the Palestinian Ambassador Hussam Zomlot and the deterioration of relations between Britain and Israel – Labour’s electoral fortunes aren’t changing.
And behind the scenes within the party, some are questioning the pursuit of Timothy. One Labour source told me: "You'd have thought with a war in Iran, a crippling cost of living crisis, and the Peter Mandelson scandal, Labour MPs would have other things to talk about than a manufactured row.”
The source accused fellow party members of failing to engage with the substance of the shadow justice secretary’s criticism, adding: “Labour MPs are running scared of Muslim independents who are going to unseat them at the next election. It's extraordinary just how far the Labour Party has now moved in order to placate the Muslim vote.”
Meanwhile, the Greens could well pass a motion that will declare Zionism as equivalent to racism: a further challenge to Labour, almost certainly making any pursuit of the Gaza vote by the party futile.
Whatever the true motivation for the calls for Timothy’s head, there seems not the slightest chance it will change the electoral calculus at the ballot box in May.
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