Badenoch backs Tory MP in row over Muslim prayer event

Kemi Badenoch has said a Ramadan event in central London criticised by one of her shadow ministers should not have been allowed to go ahead at all.

It comes after shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy described public prayers at the gathering in Trafalgar Square as an "act of domination".

Labour has branded the comments "abhorrent" and called on the Conservative leader to sack Timothy from his frontbench role over the remarks.

But Badenoch has backed her party colleague, saying she "didn't like what I saw" in footage she had seen from the event.

The row centres on an event held in the famous London square on Monday evening for Ramadan, the month during which Muslims fast during daylight hours.

The gathering was part of a series of "open iftar" events organised by charity Ramadan Tent Project - referring to the meal shared at the end of a day of fasting, which is commonly accompanied by prayers before or during.

In a post on X, Timothy shared footage showing a group of men, including Labour London mayor Sadiq Khan, praying together during the event.

The West Suffolk MP added: "Too many are too polite to say this. But mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination.

"Perform these rituals in mosques if you wish. But they are not welcome in our public places and shared institutions.

"Last night was not like a televised football match or a St Patrick's Day celebration. It was an act of domination and therefore division."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also hit out at the event, claiming it showed people "attempting dominance" over the capital.

Labour has called on Badenoch to sack Timothy over the comments, with party chair Anna Turley branding them "utterly appalling".

Khan hit back in a newspaper interview, saying that Trafalgar Square had hosted public events for Christians, Hindus and Sikhs.

"What is so objectionable to the Conservative Party about Muslims celebrating their religion in the way that we do?" he added.

But speaking at an event to launch her party's campaign for May's local elections in England, Badenoch said her "fantastic" frontbench colleague Nick Timothy had been trying to make a point about the "norms of British culture".

Claiming that women at the event had been "pushed to the back," she said the gathering had been "exclusionary".

"It is about how religion is expressed in a shared public space, and whether those expressions fit within the norms of British culture, " she added.

In a BBC interview after the event, she went on to add: "I think that we need to look at exactly why and how it happened in that space.

"We already have loads of planning rules to say what events can go on, and which ones cannot. I don't think that that was one that should have gone on. So let's look at the rules that allowed that to happen."

Asked why she had mentioned the place of women when this had not featured in Timothy's original criticism of the event, she replied: "My position has been very clear, and very consistent.

"We need to bring back British values. We need to make sure that we enforce British identity."

Ramadan Tent Project said Badenoch's comments were a "gross misrepresentation" of the gathering and "totally untrue".

In a statement, the charity's founder Omar Salha said the event had been "open to all" and there were "no restrictions on anyone in the Square".

He added that representatives from the Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Hindu, and Sikh communities had attended the event, and the "feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive".

Public events in Trafalgar Square are authorised by the Greater London Authority (GLA), with organisers required to fill in a form disclosing the contact details of the event organisers, any planned activities and likely numbers attending.

The GLA told the BBC that Monday's iftar was the sixth such event to have been hosted in Trafalgar Square.

It added that events in the square have included The Passion of Jesus at Easter, and events for the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi and Chanukah, the Jewish holiday.