Sadiq Khan has accused Rishi Sunak and Oliver Dowden of “enabling anti-Muslim hatred” after they failed to condemn Lee Anderson over his comments about the London mayor.
The prime minister failed to even mention the former Tory deputy chairman in a statement issued the day after he was suspended by the party.
It came after Anderson refused to apologise for claiming “Islamists” had “got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London”.
Meanwhile, deputy PM Dowden defended Anderson this morning by insisting he was not “intending to be Islamophobic” when he made his comments.
Responding on X (formerly Twitter), Khan said: “Rishi Sunak’s statement on hatred in politics fails to mention anti-Muslim hatred at all.
“His deputy today refused to condemn Lee Anderson’s racist and Islamophobic remarks. These are just the two most recent examples of enabling anti-Muslim hatred in the Conservative party.
“In recent months we’ve seen a terrifying spike in hate towards Jewish and Muslim communities.
“Racism is racism. There should be no hierarchy. Now, more than ever, we should be seeking to bring our country together. There must be zero tolerance for the politics of division.”
In his statement, Sunak chose to focus on anti-Semitism as he said the recent pro-Palestine marches have been “hijacked by extremists to promote and glorify terrorism”.
He also condemned the threats issued against MPs, which led to Speaker Lindsay Hoyle ripping up parliamentary convention at last week’s Gaza vote in the Commons.
The PM said: “The explosion in prejudice and anti-Semitism since the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7 are as unacceptable as they are un-British.”
His comments came after Keir Starmer urged Sunak to “get a grip” of the “extremists” in his party.