Shaun Bailey: ‘Grotesque’ views of Tory candidate for London mayor attacked
Written by News on 03/10/2018
The Conservative candidate for London mayor has been attacked for “grotesque” comments he made 13 years ago.
Shaun Bailey, who addressed the Tory conference in Birmingham on Wednesday morning, has suffered a backlash after a booklet he wrote in 2005 emerged online.
He has been accused of being “opposed to multiculturalism” – and a leading anti-Islamophobia organisation has vowed to raise its concerns with Mr Bailey personally.
In the document, titled “No man’s land: How Britain’s inner city young are being failed”, Mr Bailey appears to suggest that celebrating Muslim and Hindu festivals “robs Britain of its community” and risks turning the country into a “crime riddled cesspool”.
He also seems to claim that the black community has found it easier to integrate into British society because they are Christian and speak English.
Mr Bailey wrote: “You bring your children to school and they learn far more about Diwali than Christmas.
“I speak to the people who are from Brent and they’ve been having Muslim and Hindi [sic] days off.
“What it does is rob Britain of its community. Without our community we slip into a crime riddled cesspool.”
He added: “Within the black community it is not such a bad thing because we’ve shared a religion and in many cases a language.
“It’s far easier for black people to integrate. How we arrived here is different.
“If you talk to old black people, they will say they have been invited here by the Queen.
“They absolutely do not consider themselves refugees or immigrants.”
Mr Bailey has served as a London Assembly member since 2016 and was last week chosen as the Tory candidate to take on Labour incumbent Sadiq Khan at the 2020 mayoral election in the capital.
Responding to the pamphlet authored by Mr Bailey, the Hope Not Hate campaign said: “These views, expressed by the Tory candidate for mayor of London, are grotesque.
“The Conservatives can’t tackle their problem with Islamophobia if they don’t admit they have a problem in the first place.”
Meanwhile, the Tell Mama organisation – which records anti-Muslim hate incidents and has had its work praised by the government – said: “We do not tolerate such views about Muslim and Hindu communities.
“Nor do we tolerate any hatred or racism directed towards any other community. We will raise this further.”
Sky News understands Tell Mama hopes to raise its concerns with Mr Bailey in a private meeting they have previously requested.
Mr Bailey and Tory deputy chairman James Cleverly both spoke at a Tell Mama fringe event at the Conservative Party conference this week.
Top Labour MPs have also criticised Mr Bailey, with shadow home secretary Diane Abbott stating: “So the Tory candidate for mayor is opposed to multiculturalism.”
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry also predicted Londoners will “reject” Mr Bailey as they did 2016 Tory mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith, who was accused of running an Islamophobic campaign against Mr Khan.
A spokesperson for Mr Bailey said: “As a descendant of the Windrush generation, and someone who has worked with diverse communities for over 20 years, Shaun knows full well the challenges faced by BAME communities.
“Whether it is working with one of London’s biggest Muslim communities in North Kensington, or helping young people from all communities to fulfil their potential, Shaun has always championed diverse communities.
“Shaun has made it his life’s work to help those from migrant and disadvantaged communities, and to suggest otherwise is ludicrous.
“As someone who has received racist abuse from the Labour Party, who let’s not forget branded the community worker a ‘token ghetto boy’, this is a little rich.”
Earlier this year, the Conservative Party faced demands from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) to launch an independent inquiry into allegations of Islamophobia.
The group revealed it had seen weekly incidents from Conservative representatives and candidates.
A spokesperson for Hope Not Hate said: “The time has come to clean up. Why delay further?”
(c) Sky News 2018: Shaun Bailey: ‘Grotesque’ views of Tory candidate for London mayor attacked
