Tory London mayor candidate urged to apologise for suggesting Jewish people are ‘frightened’ by Sadiq Khan

Published

9 months ago

October 2, 2023

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The Tory candidate for London mayor has been urged to apologise after she claimed that Jewish communities were “frightened” by Sadiq Khan.

Susan Hall, who was selected as the Tory candidate in July, made the comments at the Conservative Friends of Israel event on the fringes of the Tory Party conference in Manchester.

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She told the audience that one of the “most important” things she would do for Londoners would be to make the city “safer” – particularly “for our Jewish communities”.

She asked for “as much help as [she] can get in London” because Mr Khan “needed to be defeated”.

“I know how frightened some of the community is because of the divisive attitude of Sadiq Khan,” she said.

“One of the most important things that I will do when I become mayor of London is to make it safer for everyone, but particularly for our Jewish community.

“I will ask for as much help as I can get in London, because we need to defeat him.”

Her comments immediately drew criticism from politicians and Jewish groups.

Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, said her remarks were “divisive and disgusting”.

“Sadiq Khan has repeatedly stood by London’s Jewish communities in the fight against antisemitism,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Susan Hall’s dog whistle politics have no place in London. Will decent Conservatives ever call this out?”

Mike Katz, the chair of Jewish Labour, said Ms Hall was “vile, ignorant and wrong” and urged her to apologise.

“Sadiq has consistently gone out of his way to work with the Jewish community. He stood with Jewish Labour when we spoke out on antisemitism in Labour.

“For Susan Hall to try to use this as a dog whistle is beneath contempt. She should apologise.

The Jewish Labour Movement accused Ms Hall of “gutter divisive politics that seeks to use the Jewish community as political pawns”.

“We had quite enough of this from Jeremy Corbyn and saw him off – and have no patience for it from Susan Hall,” it said.

Sky News has approached Ms Hall for comment and the Conservative Party has declined to comment.

IRS reveals final regulations for crypto broker rules

Published

7 hours ago

June 28, 2024

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IRS reveals final regulations for crypto broker rules

The Internal Revenue Service did not include decentralized exchanges or self-custodial wallets under its broker reporting requirements.

Reform canvasser in PM racism row says he was ‘a total fool’

Published

10 hours ago

June 28, 2024

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Reform canvasser in PM racism row says he was 'a total fool'

A Reform UK canvasser who used a racial slur against Rishi Sunak has called himself a “total fool” and said he has learned his lesson.

Footage from an undercover Channel 4 reporter showed Reform campaigner Andrew Parker using a discriminatory term about the prime minister, as well as saying the army should “just shoot” migrants crossing the Channel.

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Police are now assessing the comments to establish if an offence has been committed, while Mr Sunak said the insult directed at him “hurts and it makes me angry”.

Mr Parker, who was canvassing in Clacton, where Reform leader Nigel Farage is standing, told Sky News the sting operation had “proper taught me a lesson”.

He said: “There’s lots of old people like me who are sick to death of this woke agenda… but on that particular day, I was set up and set up good and proper.

“It’s proper taught me a lesson – I was a total fool.”

Pressed on his use of the racial slur, he said he was an “old man” and “I still use old words”.

“There’s no racism at all in it. I am a decent guy to be honest”, he added.

In the Channel 4 report, Mr Parker can be heard using offensive language about the prime minister and also discussing migrants arriving in small boats in Deal, Kent

He said: “Army recruitment – get the young recruits there, with guns, on the f****** beach, target practice. F****** just shoot them.”

He also described Islam as a “disgusting cult”.

Mr Farage said he was “dismayed” by the “appalling” comments and has sought to distance himself from the campaigner, saying he was simply “someone who turned up to help” and “has nothing to do with the party”.

He has also used reports Mr Parker was a part-time actor to suggest the incriminating film was a “total set-up” – something Channel 4 has strongly denied.

Mr Parker himself says his volunteering for Reform was separate from his acting job – and claims he was “goaded” into making the comments.

A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “We strongly stand by our rigorous and duly impartial journalism which speaks for itself.

“We met Mr Parker for the first time at Reform UK party headquarters, where he was a Reform party canvasser.

“We did not pay the Reform UK canvasser or anyone else in this report. Mr Parker was not known to Channel 4 News and was filmed covertly via the undercover operation.”

The broadcaster’s investigation also caught another canvasser describing the Pride flag as “degenerate” and suggesting members of the LGBT community are paedophiles.

A spokesman for Essex Police said the force is “urgently assessing” the comments “to establish if there are any criminal offences”.

PM ‘hurt and angry’ over racial slur

Mr Sunak reacted furiously to the comments and said Mr Farage had “some questions to answer”.

He said: “My two daughters have to see and hear Reform people who campaign for Nigel Farage calling me an effing P***. It hurts and it makes me angry and I think he has some questions to answer.

“And I don’t repeat those words lightly. I do so deliberately because this is too important not to call out clearly for what it is.

“As prime minister, but more importantly as a father of two young girls, it’s my duty to call out this corrosive and divisive behaviour.”

Unrepentant Farage doubles down

However, Mr Farage was unrepentant when grilled on the row during a BBC Question Time leaders’ special, saying he was “not going to apologise” for the actions of people associated with his party.

Reform UK has faced a series of controversies relating to election candidates saying offensive or racist things.

Asked why his party “attracts racists and extremists”, the former UKIP leader claimed he had “done more to drive the far right out of British politics than anybody else alive” – claiming he took on the British Nationalist Party (BNP) a decade ago.

He also appeared to throw his predecessor Richard Tice under the bus when read racist and xenophobic comments made by Reform candidates, saying he “inherited a start up party” and has “no idea” why the people who said those things had been selected.