Sunak criticises lawmaker’s attack on London’s mayor and denies his party is anti-Muslim

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday that a Conservative lawmaker was wrong to say the mayor of London is controlled by extremists, and also denied that the governing party tolerates anti-Muslim prejudice.

Sunak is under pressure to condemn Islamophobia after the comments by Lee Anderson, who was suspended from the Conservative Party group in Parliament on Saturday for comments about Mayor Sadiq Khan.

Anderson, a pugnacious populist, claimed extremists had "got control” of Khan and the city of London.Khan is Muslim, and a member of the opposition Labour Party.

"These comments weren’t acceptable, they were wrong,” Sunak told BBC radio on Monday.

"Words matter, especially in the current environment where tensions are running high and I think it’s incumbent on all of us to choose them carefully.”

Asked whether his party has an Islamophobia problem, Sunak said: "No, of course it doesn’t.’”

Opponents accused the Conservatives of deliberately raising tensions over pro-Palestinian protests that have been held most weekends since the Israel-Hamas conflict began in October.

Sunak fired former Home Secretary Suella Braverman in November after she called the protests, which have drawn hundreds of thousands of demonstrators, "hate marches” and accused police of being too lenient with them.

In an interview with right-wing TV channel GB News, Anderson criticised the police response to the demonstrations, leveling the blame on the mayor.

Associated Press