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Nick Timothy shows how UK Tory party has become a cesspit of hatred
Middle East Eye·🕐 2 gün önce·👁 1 görüntülenme
Nick Timothy shows how UK Tory party has become a cesspit of hatred Peter Oborne on Thu, 03/19/2026 - 18:09 His latest vile attack on Muslims in Trafalgar Square was framed by the party leader as 'defending British values' Nick Timothy, then the joint Downing Street chief of staff, is pictured in northeastern England in May 2017 (Justin Tallis/AFP) Off At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer turned brutally on Kemi Badenoch and demanded that the Conservative leader sack Nick Timothy as shadow justice secretary. He had every reason to do so. Timothy, who has ignited the latest culture war to engulf British politics, has a record of stirring up hatred and division against Muslims. Earlier this week, Timothy went on the attack yet again by sharing a video on social media of London Mayor Sadiq Khan praying in Trafalgar Square, along with hundreds of other Muslims, as they participated in a public iftar event marking the holy Islamic month of Ramadan. Most reasonable people would see this as a moving and deeply peaceful moment of respect and togetherness. Emphatically, not Timothy. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); “Too many are too polite to say this,” he snarled on X. “But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination.” He went on to add: “The domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook.” Incredibly, Badenoch, sitting a few feet away from Timothy on the Tory front bench, leapt to his defence. According to the Tory leader, he was “defending British values”. Terrifying phenomenon Starmer noted that he had never seen the Tories “call out anything other than the Muslim events”. He concluded: “The Tory party has got a problem with Muslims.” It is impossible to disagree. The Conservative Party, as I have demonstrated in a series of articles for Middle East Eye, has become a cesspit of Islamophobic and racist bigotry. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); This is a phenomenon that should terrify ordinary British Muslims. It is also a very recent phenomenon. Two decades ago, anyone who expressed views as bigoted as Timothy's would have been quickly disowned by any Tory leader Two decades ago, anyone who expressed views as bigoted as Timothy’s would have been quickly disowned by any Tory leader. Consider the case of former Tory MP John Townend, who complained ahead of the 2001 general election that Britain’s “homogenous Anglo-Saxon society” had been “seriously undermined” by immigration. William Hague, then the Tory leader, forced him to apologise. Iain Duncan Smith, Hague’s successor, sacked Ann Winterton from his shadow cabinet after she made a racist joke about Pakistanis. But the most famous example of front-bench bigotry concerns Enoch Powell. As shadow defence secretary in 1968, Powell told an audience in Birmingham: “As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood.” Alluding to the Roman poet Virgil, Powell was warning against immigration and the Race Relations Act. There’s no doubt that he enjoyed the support of many party members. Former Conservative leader Edward Heath, however, had no hesitation in sacking Powell. Sharp change of tone Badenoch, in telling contrast, has chosen to stand by Timothy. Other senior party officials have also defended his remarks. “This wasn’t a performance. It wasn’t carols being sung in Trafalgar Square that everybody could enjoy, or some kind of spectacle or performance,” Tory party chair Kevin Hollinrake told BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning. Badenoch’s decision will define her leadership of the party. It also marks a sharp change of tone in British politics. How Starmer careened from honourable left to racist right Read More » Starmer himself was guilty of echoing Powell’s filthy language when he referred to an “island of strangers” when launching his white paper on immigration a year ago. Starmer subsequently said that he “deeply regretted” the language he had used, and that he would not have used it had he known it would be interpreted as echoing Powell. During that period, Starmer, guided by his political strategist Morgan McSweeney, was on a mission to appeal to “hero voters” in working-class constituencies in the north of England, where Labour is being challenged by the anti-immigration Reform UK party. McSweeney has now departed, and we are hearing a new language from Starmer. That’s why I believe his call for the sacking of Timothy signals a new dividing line in British politics. Badenoch has now positioned herself as the leader of a party that tolerates anti-Muslim bigotry. Like Powell back in 1968, Timothy is a rising star in the Conservative establishment, rated by bookmakers as one of the favourites to succeed Badenoch as leader. But he has risen to national prominence by helping to generate a series of moral panics concerning British Muslims. An early example was the so-called Trojan Horse affair - the now-debunked conspiracy theory that “Islamist” teachers were seeking to take over Birmingham schools. Targeting minorities More recently, Timothy prominently campaigned against the police decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans on public safety grounds from the Israeli football club’s match against Aston Villa in Birmingham last November. Timothy is from Birmingham and supports Aston Villa. In common with far too many British MPs from all parties, Timothy has little experience of life outside politics. Having read politics at university, he went straight to work for the Conservative Research Department. He worked briefly as a corporate adviser in finance before returning to politics in 2006 (aged just 26) as an aide to Theresa May, then a shadow cabinet minister who had established her reputation with her famous “nasty party” speech, in which she excoriated her colleagues for making “political capital out of demonising minorities”. Badenoch's Tory party has become exactly what Timothy's patron May warned against: a nasty party But as an adviser to May and subsequently as an MP, Timothy has made his own reputation by targeting those same minorities. In 2020, he defended the Home Office’s notorious “hostile environment” immigration measures deployed under May, which led to the so-called Windrush scandal, in which dozens of people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds were wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights. “The hostile environment policy is so called because rather than trying to locate, arrest and deport your way out of the problem of illegal immigration, really what we need to do is make the country harder to live in if you’re here illegally … I continue to think this is a sensible policy,” Timothy said. Timothy’s emergence on the national stage therefore symbolises the transformation of the Tories from a relatively decent party 20 years ago, to a cesspit of prejudice and hatred today. Badenoch’s Tory party has become exactly what Timothy’s patron May warned against: a nasty party. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. Islamophobia Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Keir Starmer turned brutally on Kemi Badenoch and demanded that the Conservative leader sack Nick Timothy as shadow justice secretary. He had every reason to do so. Timothy, who has ignited the latest culture war to engulf British politics, has a record of stirring up hatred and division against Muslims.Earlier this week, Timothy went on the attack yet again by sharing a video on social media of London Mayor Sadiq Khan praying in Trafalgar Square, along with hundreds of other Muslims, as they participated in a public iftar event marking the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.Most reasonable people would see this as a moving and deeply peaceful moment of respect and togetherness.Emphatically, not Timothy.“Too many are too polite to say this,” he snarled on X. “But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination.”He went on to add: “The domination of public places is straight from the Islamist playbook.”Incredibly, Badenoch, sitting a few feet away from Timothy on the Tory front bench, leapt to his defence. According to the Tory leader, he was “defending British values”.Starmer noted that he had never seen the Tories “call out anything other than the Muslim events”. He concluded: “The Tory party has got a problem with Muslims.”It is impossible to disagree. The Conservative Party, as I have demonstrated in a series of articles for Middle East Eye, has become a cesspit of Islamophobic and racist bigotry.This is a phenomenon that should terrify ordinary British Muslims. It is also a very recent phenomenon.Two decades ago, anyone who expressed views as bigoted as Timothy's would have been quickly disowned by any Tory leaderTwo decades ago, anyone who expressed views as bigoted as Timothy’s would have been quickly disowned by any Tory leader.Consider the case of former Tory MP John Townend, who complained ahead of the 2001 general election that Britain’s “homogenous Anglo-Saxon society” had been “seriously undermined” by immigration. William Hague, then the Tory leader, forced him to apologise.Iain Duncan Smith, Hague’s successor, sacked Ann Winterton from his shadow cabinet after she made a racist joke about Pakistanis.But the most famous example of front-bench bigotry concerns Enoch Powell. As shadow defence secretary in 1968, Powell told an audience in Birmingham: “As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood.” Alluding to the Roman poet Virgil, Powell was warning against immigration and the Race Relations Act. There’s no doubt that he enjoyed the support of many party members. Former Conservative leader Edward Heath, however, had no hesitation in sacking Powell.Badenoch, in telling contrast, has chosen to stand by Timothy. Other senior party officials have also defended his remarks.“This wasn’t a performance. It wasn’t carols being sung in Trafalgar Square that everybody could enjoy, or some kind of spectacle or performance,” Tory party chair Kevin Hollinrake told BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning.Badenoch’s decision will define her leadership of the party. It also marks a sharp change of tone in British politics.Starmer himself was guilty of echoing Powell’s filthy language when he referred to an “island of strangers” when launching his white paper on immigration a year ago. Starmer subsequently said that he “deeply regretted” the language he had used, and that he would not have used it had he known it would be interpreted as echoing Powell.During that period, Starmer, guided by his political strategist Morgan McSweeney, was on a mission to appeal to “hero voters” in working-class constituencies in the north of England, where Labour is being challenged by the anti-immigration Reform UK party.McSweeney has now departed, and we are hearing a new language from Starmer. That’s why I believe his call for the sacking of Timothy signals a new dividing line in British politics. Badenoch has now positioned herself as the leader of a party that tolerates anti-Muslim bigotry. Like Powell back in 1968, Timothy is a rising star in the Conservative establishment, rated by bookmakers as one of the favourites to succeed Badenoch as leader.But he has risen to national prominence by helping to generate a series of moral panics concerning British Muslims. An early example was the so-called Trojan Horse affair - the now-debunked conspiracy theory that “Islamist” teachers were seeking to take over Birmingham schools.More recently, Timothy prominently campaigned against the police decision to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans on public safety grounds from the Israeli football club’s match against Aston Villa in Birmingham last November. Timothy is from Birmingham and supports Aston Villa.In common with far too many British MPs from all parties, Timothy has little experience of life outside politics. Having read politics at university, he went straight to work for the Conservative Research Department.He worked briefly as a corporate adviser in finance before returning to politics in 2006 (aged just 26) as an aide to Theresa May, then a shadow cabinet minister who had established her reputation with her famous “nasty party” speech, in which she excoriated her colleagues for making “political capital out of demonising minorities”.Badenoch's Tory party has become exactly what Timothy's patron May warned against: a nasty partyBut as an adviser to May and subsequently as an MP, Timothy has made his own reputation by targeting those same minorities.In 2020, he defended the Home Office’s notorious “hostile environment” immigration measures deployed under May, which led to the so-called Windrush scandal, in which dozens of people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds were wrongly detained, deported and denied legal rights.“The hostile environment policy is so called because rather than trying to locate, arrest and deport your way out of the problem of illegal immigration, really what we need to do is make the country harder to live in if you’re here illegally … I continue to think this is a sensible policy,” Timothy said.Timothy’s emergence on the national stage therefore symbolises the transformation of the Tories from a relatively decent party 20 years ago, to a cesspit of prejudice and hatred today.Badenoch’s Tory party has become exactly what Timothy’s patron May warned against: a nasty party.The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
