Tory Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt slammed after appearing to endorse vile Katie Hopkins 'Londonistan' tweet
The Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has been severely criticised after appearing to endorse a tweet from the almost universally despised far-right rent-a-gob Katie Hopkins which describes the UK capital as "[Sadiq] Khan's Londonistan". On Saturday, Hopkins posted a tweet claiming that 6 people had been stabbed in London within a 20 hour period, before going on to blame the London Mayor for the problem and describing the capital as "Khan's Londonistan". Following this, the US President Donald Trump quote-tweeted her, adding his own comment labelling Khan as a "disaster" and saying "LONDON needs a new mayor". https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1139967706424369152 However, when asked about Trump's endorsement of Hopkins' Londonistan tweet at a Tory leadership hustings today, only 3 out of the 5 candidates criticised it. Sajid Javid described Trump's tweet as "unbecoming" of a US President and said he should "stick to domestic politics"; Dominic Raab said it was neither "helpful or constructive" and that he was "proud to have a Muslim mayor of London"; whilst Michael Gove said "I think it's a mistake to retweet anything Katie Hopkins tweets". However, Rory Stewart refused to criticise Trump, saying that he had always been "a diplomat", whilst the Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt took a completely different line, appearing to actively endorse it, stating that whilst he "wouldn't use those words myself" he "150%" agreed with Trump's attack on Sadiq Khan:
"President Trump has his own style and I wouldn’t use those words myself but the sentiment is enormously supported, that we have a mayor of London who is completely failing to tackle knife crime and has spent more time on politics than the business of making London safer, in that I 150% agree with the President".
Following the hustings, Rory Stewart urged Hunt to clarify that he did not agree with the vile language contained in Hopkins' tweet: https://twitter.com/RoryStewartUK/status/1140595223413891072 However, Hunt has not yet responded. Responding to Hunt's apparent endorsement of clear racism, the Muslim Council of Britain said:
"When facing Islamophobia, many Muslims are most hurt when others stand by and do nothing. Trump’s endorsement of a bigot has nothing to do with the rising knife crime that we all are concerned about and everything to do with his divisive agenda."
"For Downing Street to refuse to comment and our Foreign Secretary and potentially future Prime Minister to agree with the "sentiment" of this known Islamophobe without condemning the clear bigoted intent behind it, is shocking."
"It is still further proof that Islamophobia is given a free pass at the highest echelons of the Conservative Party."
Unsurprisingly, Hunt's words have sparked a significant backlash, with some even suggesting he should be booted out of the party.
https://twitter.com/MatesJacob/status/1140587251908435969 https://twitter.com/rantingkat/status/1140583808363880448 https://twitter.com/aljwhite/status/1140577892503629825 https://twitter.com/Peston/status/1140599093724622848 Following the backlash, Sayeeda Warsi, the first Muslim to become a Cabinet member and an outspoken critic of Islamophobia within the Conservative Party, said that Hunt had now backtracked on his statement in a private conversation with her: https://twitter.com/SayeedaWarsi/status/1140608131673788417 https://twitter.com/SayeedaWarsi/status/1140608134597287937