‘Practise what you preach!’ Sajid Javid lashes out at Imam who berated Tory leader hopefuls over Islamophobia after vile anti-Jewish tweets surface
- An Imam appeared on BBC TV debate last night berating Tory leader hopefuls
- A series of vile posts from Abdullah Patel emerged following the programme
- Home Secretary Sajid Javid waded in to demand he ‘practise what you preach’
By James Tapsfield, Political Editor, For Mailonline
Published: 11:17 EDT, 19 June 2019 | Updated: 12:21 EDT, 19 June 2019
Sajid Javid today laid into an Imam who berated Tory leader hopefuls over Islamophobia – after vile anti-Jewish tweets surfaced.
The Home Secretary demanded Abdullah Patel ‘practise what he preach’ in the wake of exchanges on the BBC‘s TV debate last night.
The corporation has been engulfed in controversy after it emerged they allowed an Mr Patel and a former Labour party worker to question Tory hopefuls.
Mr Patel was today suspended from his job as deputy head at a Muslim girls’ school over tweets he sent blaming women for rape, praising Jeremy Corbyn and attacking Jews.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured on ITV’s GMB programme today) demanded Abdullah Patel ‘practise what he preach’ in the wake of exchanges on the BBC’s TV debate last night
Mr Javid intervened in the row on Twitter today, saying Mr Patel’s ‘words have consequences’
Aman Thakar, who questioned if the candidates had a democratic mandate, has also been suspended from his law firm Leigh Day after it emerged he said the most harmful part of Hitler’s legacy was his ‘abuse of nationalism’ in a tweet.
The BBC said it knew that Thakar worked for Labour but failed to explain why they didn’t tell viewers.
The series of vile posts by Mr Patel were exposed moments after the programme on BBC One, in which he asked the Tory MPs on their views on Islamophobia and whether they believed ‘words have consequences.’
In one tweet Patel appeared to suggest women are to blame for rape, writing: ‘Lets make something clear: Generally, men are the predators, but women need to realise this and be smarter.
‘It takes 2 to tango, and if you put yourself in that position, don’t expect every man to pass up the opportunity to take advantage of you. Don’t be alone with a man! ‘
Patel also showed his support for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
He wrote: ‘Vote UKLabour Vote JeremyCorbyn Vote for hopenotfear Vote for TheManyNottheFew. If you vote Tory you deserve all the cuts you get to tbh.’
Others highlighted his anti-Semitic views, with one post featuring a graphic once retweeted by Labour MP Naz Shah that saw her suspended by the Labour party in 2016.
The BBC also refused to apologise for the Imam’s inclusion, insisting the tweets were ‘not visible’ when they vetted him – however he was tweeting from the account just two days before the debate.
A series of vile posts by Abdullah Patel were unearthed last night moments after the BBC debate
A series of posts tweeted by Patel were exposed last night revealing his controversial views
Mr Javid said Mr Patel should ‘practise what he preaches’ and that words ‘do indeed have consequences’.
‘All of us in public life have a duty to be vigilant for antisemitism & anti-Muslim prejudice. I never imagined we would see it rising in 21st century UK.
‘Unlike the Labour leadership, which is itself part of the problem, my party takes that duty seriously,’ he tweeted.
Today another of the questioners, 15-year-old Erin Curtis, who asked the candidates if they would make tough carbon neutral pledges, has revealed that she is part of the Student Climate Network, which organised a mass walk-out of schools in February.
She has warned there will be further strikes unless the government agreed to measures including a Green Deal, in an article for the Guardian.
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