| Press release For immediate release 29th February 2024 Protesters will say “Stand up to Islamophobia” outside Tory Head office, tonight, 6pm Stand up to Islamophobia Protest Thursday 29 February, 6pm Conservative Party Head Office Matthew Parker Street London SW1H 9HQ Anti-racist campaigners will condemn dangerous racism and Islamophobia emanating from the centre of government at a protest tonight outside the Conservative Party Head Office. Stand Up To Racism, Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), The Cordoba Foundation and Jewish Socialists Group are some of the organisations calling on all anti racists to join the protest. The protest comes in the wake of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s refusal to acknowledge and address Islamophobia, following the suspension of Lee Anderson after the MP’s incendiary comments regarding Mayor of London Sadiq Khan saying “Islamists” had control over him. Stand up to Racism has been demanding that the whip is also withdrawn from former home secretary Suella Braverman and former prime minister Liz Truss. Anti racists argue that as former Home Secretary Braverman’s comments in an article in the Daily Telegraph were worse and she must also face suspension. A spokesperson said Braverman’s “inflammatory” comments, saying “The truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now,” seized on Sir Lindsey Hoyle’s response to his actions during the ceasefire debate, and were deliberately designed to stir up hatred and division on the streets of Britain. Braverman and Anderson’s comments followed the furore in Parliament in recent weeks, where Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsey Hoyle claimed his decision to break with Parliamentary protocol during the Gaza debate was due to the safety and security of MPs, saying he didn’t want MPs to be murdered by terrorists or another an attack on the House. Thus sparking controversy by linking calls for a Gaza ceasefire with terrorism. At the same time the Muslim Council of Britain demanded urgent action after reporting an alarming surge in Islamophobic attacks, with a staggering 335% increase and over 2000 recorded cases in the last four months, averaging around 500 per month and nearly one case every 90 minutes. Meanwhile former Prime Minister Liz Truss shared a platform with Steve Bannon, a former adviser under the Donald Trump Presidency, where she claimed “a radical Islamic party” could win the Rochdale by-election and she failed to challenge Bannon describing fascist Tommy Robinson as a “hero.” This took place during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) an event dominated by Donald Trump supporters. Robinson welcomed Truss’s comments at the event. Stand up to Racism says that Robinson, a fascist, has been using the Islamophobia unleashed by Braverman since Armistice Day, to build a fascist street movement. The group is also organising events to mark UN Anti-Racism Day – part of an international day of action – on Saturday 16 March in London and Glasgow and Sunday 17 March in Cardiff, to say “Stop Racism and Stop the Hate.” Sabby Dhalu, Stand up to Racism Co-Convenor said: “In a week where we learned of a horrific rise in Islamophobic hate crime, Conservative Party politicians were busy pouring fuel onto the fire of this particular form of racism, with neither acknowledgement nor condemnation from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak nor any senior Tory politician on our screens and airwaves this week. Paul Scully MP doubled down on Islamophobia suggesting that parts of Birmingham and Tower Hamlets have “no-go areas” – an old and inaccurate racist and Islamophobic trope. “We strongly condemn this wave of Islamophobia and Rishi Sunak’s failure to address it. Phrases like ‘Jews are in control’ or ‘Jews are in charge’ would rightly be considered antisemitic conspiracy theories. There should be the exact same response when this is said regarding so-called “Islamists,” which is a racist and Islamophobic term that is deliberately used to make a false link between any Muslim and terrorism. “As night follows day, hatred from politicians leads to hatred on the streets. Former Prime Minister Liz Truss MP, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman and any other MP using such inflammatory language should have the whip suspended.” — For further information & interviews please contact: SUTR OFFICE: info@standuptoracism.org.uk — Stand Up To Racism is part of the World Against Racism and Fascism international coordination that is calling for mass demonstrations globally on 16 March 2024. See more here |