Keir Starmer has claimed the Conservative party “has a problem with Muslims” after the shadow justice secretary described an event where the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, joined others to pray in Trafalgar Square as “an act of domination”.
During PMQs, the prime minister urged Kemi Badenoch to sack Nick Timothy over a post on X in which he shared a clip of Khan and other Muslims praying in the square.
“Too many are too polite to say this. But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination,” tweeted Timothy, who went on to say “the domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook”.
Starmer went on the offensive across the dispatch box on Wednesday as Timothy sat a few feet from Badenoch on her frontbench.
“He said last night that Muslims praying in public, including the mayor of London practising his faith, are not welcome,” the prime minister said.
Starmer told “If he were in my team he would be gone. She should denounce his comments and she should sack him.”
Badenoch defended Timothy, saying that he was “defending British values”, but the remarks have reignited a longstanding controversy surrounding alleged Islamophobia in the Tory party.
The leader’s spokesperson sought to link the comments to a recent speech by Badenoch in which she claimed there was growing “separatism” in society and denied that Timothy’s intervention signalled a new policy. Decisions on whether events such as the one in Trafalgar Square could go ahead would be for the party’s London mayoral candidate, they said.
Former Tory MPs and members voiced criticism. Sayeeda Warsi, a former co-chair of the Conservative party who resigned the Tory whip in the House of Lords in 2024, citing concerns of double standards against minorities, said she had been getting messages all day from Conservatives who are Muslim.
“They are asking where this is all heading, and they include people who are in senior leadership positions,” said the peer, who continues to be a member of the party.
“It makes British Muslims feel they are not welcome any more. On top of that, this is a sectarian approach which is electoral suicide.”Starmer said in parliament: “I have never seen her party call out anything other than the Muslim events. It is only when Muslims are praying … the only conclusion is that the Tory party has got a problem with Muslims.”
Timothy referred in his tweet to the adhan, the Islamic call to prayer, telling his 82,000 followers on X: “The adhan – 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.”
Timothy, a former special adviser to Theresa May who was appointed by Badenoch in January, added that he was not suggesting everybody at Trafalgar Square last night was an Islamist.
However, scholars said his interpretation of the adhan was wrong. Qari Assam, an imam at one of the largest mosques in Britain who advised Theresa May’s government on measures to combat Islamophobia, said it was not a declaration of control but “a simple call to worship – an invitation”.
“To frame such acts of devotion as threatening is to misunderstand the very essence of worship,” he said.
“It also risks singling out Muslims for practising what others are freely encouraged to do. This is the challenge that British Muslims are experiencing –they are singled out and discriminated against, fuelling demonisation and anti-Muslim hostility towards Muslims.”
Timothy doubled down on his comments in a tweet on Wednesday in response to criticism from Dominic Grieve, a former Tory MP and attorney general who chaired a working group which produced the government’s new definition of anti-Muslim hostility this month.
Grieve was accused by Timothy of a “wilful misunderstanding” of his comments after he asked the MP on X if he was advocating compulsory legislation targeting Muslims.
Prof Javed Khan, who served on the working group, suggested that Timothy’s remarks could fall under the new definition of anti-Muslim hostility, although it would have to be proven that they came with intent.
“Personally I think that politicians should be held accountable to a higher standard. Someone like Nick Timothy needs to be taking more care with their comments rather than pandering to the far right,” he said. end newKhan has not responded publicly to Timothy, but on Tuesday shared pictures on X of religious gatherings in central London, stating: “Here’s an Iftar (post-fast meal) in Trafalgar Square. And here’s Easter, Diwali, Vaisakhi and Chanukah. London is, and will always be, a place for everyone. #UnityOverDivision”.
