Labour Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting is refusing to back down on comments he made regarding Susan Hall’s London Mayoral prospects.
Speaking on GB News, Emily Carver afforded him the opportunity to “take back” the comments, but Streeting opted to “speak from the heart”.
Grilled by Emily on the “ridiculous” tweet, he said: “I would just like to speak from the heart on this.
“Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, the first Muslim Mayor of London, has had an unprecedented level of abuse and requires an unprecedented level of security to keep him and his family safe, a kind Boris Johnson did not need when he was mayor and Ken Livingstone did not need when he was mayor.
Wes Streeting joined Emily Carver on GB News
GB NEWS
“If people don’t like Sadiq, fair enough. If they don’t want to vote for him because of his policies, fair enough.
“What we have seen though is an absolutely horrendous level of racism directed at Sadiq and a lot of prejudice based on the fact that he’s a Muslim and a prejudice he would not have got if he was not a Muslim.”
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Asked what that has “got to do” with the comments he made about Susan Hall, Streeting pointed to a perceived lack of “condemnation” from the Tory London mayoral candidate when Lee Anderson suggested the capital was run by “Islamists”.
“Susan Hall has also sought to stoke division during her campaign by suggesting that Jewish Londoners were scared of Sadiq Khan”, he fumed.
Emily further probed Streeting on the matter, claiming the Labour shadow minister was suggesting that all criticism of the Mayor was “Islamophobic”, a claim he strongly refuted.
“I’ve got my criticisms of Sadiq Khan”, he added.
Streeting hit out at Susan Hall in a tweet
PA
Wes Streeting joined Emily Carver and Gloria De Piero on GB News
GB NEWS
“There are plenty of people in my own constituency or across London who voted for Susan Hall and haven’t got a racist bone in their body.”
Streeting sparked fury with a tweet on the eve of the London mayoral election, where he warned a win for the Tory candidate would be a “win for racists, white supremacists and Islamophobes the world over”.
It came ahead of a “disappointing” round of local election results for the Conservatives.
While the mayoral vote results are yet to be revealed, the Tories suffered a bruising night.
But the Prime Minister insisted he was “focused completely on the job at hand” and that Labour still had not done enough to be on track for general election success.
Experts have warned the Conservatives could be on course to lose 500 seats in what could be their worst showing in 40 years.
But the party retained the Tees Valley mayoralty, with Lord Ben Houchen being re-elected.
