Labour swipes at ‘posturing’ Tory leadership rivals as Robert Jenrick faces backlash for ‘Allahu Akbar’ comments

A Labour minister today swiped at ‘posturing’ Tory leadership rivals as Robert Jenrick faced a backlash for saying people who shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ should be arrested.

Dame Diana Johnson, the policing minister, urged MPs to be ‘moderate in their language’ following the widespread riots in the wake of the Southport stabbings.

She issued the call after being quizzed about comments by Mr Jenrick, the former immigration minister who is bidding to replace Rishi Sunak as Conservative leader.

In criticism of the policing of pro-Palestinian protests in the UK, Mr Jenrick said it was ‘quite wrong’ that somebody could shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ and not be ‘immediately arrested’.

His comments prompted outrage from both Labour MPs and fellow Tories as they pointed out that ‘Allahu Akbar’ translates as ‘God is Great’.

Asked about Mr Jenrick’s remarks this morning, Dame Diana said: ‘I think all politicians at this stage need to be very careful about the language that they use.

‘The country over the last few days, the terrible events in Southport, I think the country has been very shocked by that tragic event and then the public disorder that we’ve seen.

‘So I think all politicians have a role in being moderate in their language, supporting the police and speaking on behalf of the law-abiding majority in this country.

‘That’s what I would say all politicians should be doing at this stage.’

Asked if she felt most MPs had been backing the Government over the past 10 days amid the outbreak of far-right riots, she added: ‘The vast majority of MPs that I’ve been speaking to have been supportive of the action taken to clamp down on that criminality on our streets.

‘Obviously we’re in the middle of a Conservative leadership election, and clearly there’s positioning and posturing going on there.

‘But I think my overall view is that members of parliament are supporting the action of the police and of the Government.’

Mr Jenrick stirred up the row during an interview with Sky News yesterday morning as he addressed Britain’s ongoing riots crisis.

Challenged about his past claims of ‘two-tier policing’, he said: ‘I have been very critical of the police in the past, particularly around the attitude of some police forces to the protests we saw since October 7.

‘I thought it was quite wrong that somebody could shout Allahu Akbar on the streets of London and not be immediately arrested, or project genocidal chants onto Big Ben and that person not be immediately arrested.

‘That attitude is wrong and I will always call out the police for it.’

Following a backlash at his comments, Mr Jenrick attempted to clarify his comments in a social media post.

He wrote: ”Allahu Akbar’ is spoken peacefully and spiritually by millions of British Muslims in their daily lives.

‘But the aggressive chanting… is intimidatory and threatening. And it’s an offence under Section 4 and 5 of the Public Order Act.

‘Extremists routinely abuse common expressions for their own shameful ends. All violence must end. All violence must be called out.’

Labour MP Naz Shah who is vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British Muslims, slammed Mr Jenrick for ‘complete ignorance’ and ‘textbook Islamophobia’.

Tory peer Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a former Conservative Party chair and the first female Muslim Cabinet minister, branded Mr Jenrick ‘a tool’.

Mel Stride, one of Mr Jenrick’s rivals for the Tory leadership said the ‘suggestion of wholesale criminalisation of the words Allahu Akbar is unwise and insensitive’.

‘Any threat in the use of these words can only ever be implied in the very rarest of circumstances. Context clearly matters hugely here,’ he added.

But former Brexit chief negotiator Lord David Frost came out in defence of Mr Jenrick.

He wrote on X: ‘Today Robert Jenrick has been trying to say something important that needs to be said.

‘I’m a free speech absolutist. I believe in the widest possible bounds for free speech.

‘But context does matter. It is illegal to threaten or incite violence in this country.

‘As I wrote back in November, words which are entirely acceptable in one context can mean something entirely different, and should be treated accordingly, when chanted by an aggressive mob on the streets. Our policing needs to recognise that.’