Lee Anderson has to be called out as a racist

It’s been a long week. It’s also a cold morning, but I will be out, binoculars around my neck, soon.

However, I could not ignore this in the Guardian this morning:

Speaking on GB News, [Lee] Anderson said of Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London: “He’s given our capital city away to his mates.

“I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan, and they’ve got control of London.”

I have watched the video.

This was blatant Islamophobia from Anderson, who is a Tory MP. It was worse from Tim Montgomerie the night before on Sophie Ridge on Sky.

I worked with Sadiq Khan as a school governor at one time. Anderson’s portrayal could not be further from the person I knew.

We have reached the point in the UK where the greatest crime is anti-Semitism, which very often seems to be mis-described. Islamophobia is, howver, apparently permitted.

Those happily promoting this differentiation of treatment – and far too many are – are blatantly racist and must be called out for it.

I hope Ofcom got a lot of complaints about the Anderson broadcast.

Now it is time to go and reflect on the mess we’re in and look for waders, ducks, egrets, raptors, finches and more.