A candidate for the Conservative Party leadership is coming under criticism for saying protesters should be arrested for saying "Allahu Akbar". The former Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick was speaking to Sky News about the protests throughout the UK since the start of last week. Mr Jenrick, the MP for Newark, Nottinghamshire, who is one of six candidates for the Conservative Party leadership, appeared to suggest the policing of the protests was tougher than the policing of those since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian War.
(Image: Henry Lisowski) He appeared to suggest protesters should be arrested for saying "Allahu Akbar" - a term translated as "god is great" and "god is greatest" - which is used every day by British Muslims and others across the world including at the start of their prayers. Mr Jenrick said: "I have been critical of the police in the past around the attitude of some police to the protests we saw since October. I thought it was wrong somebody could shout Allahu Akbar on the streets and not be arrested.
" Later on Wednesday, the MP acknowledged context is crucial in a post in social media. ‘Allahu Akbar’ is spoken peacefully and spiritually by millions of British Muslims in their daily lives. But the aggressive chanting below is intimidatory and threatening.
And it’s an offence under Section 4 and 5 of the Public Order Act. Extremists routinely abuse common..
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com/XpLJ9OilyC — Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) August 7, 2024 He used what appeared to be a clip of protesters in Bolton Town Centre as an example. Mr Jenrick said: "Allahu Akbar is spoken peacefully and spiritually by millions of British Muslims in their daily lives. But the aggressive chanting below is intimidatory and threatening.
And it is an offence under the Public Order Act." The MP came under criticism from other MPs like the Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and organisations like the Muslim Council of Britain. The Muslim Council of Britain said in its statement his statement was a sign "Institutional Islamophobia is alive and well in the Conservative Party".
Conservative peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi , who has links with the university, criticised his remarks, writing on X: “Every day before we start parliamentary business in the Commons and Lords we say a prayer and praise God – we say our parliamentary version of Allah hu Akbars at the heart of democracy – a process Robert Jenrick is a part of. “This language from Jenrick is more of his usual nasty divisive rhetoric – he is such a tool.” On Sunday (August 4), there was violence in Bolton Town Centre amid similar scenes all across the country since the killing of three girls in a knife attack in Southport, Merseyside, at the start of last week.
Across Greater Manchester, more than 20 people have been arrested, some of whom have been brought before the courts since the start of this week for a range of offences including offences in Bolton. This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.
[email protected] or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.
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