Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of “politicising Islam” after his mass open Muslim prayer event sparked widespread controversy.Speaking to GB News, political commentator Khadeja Brown supported those calling for a ban on such prayer events, declaring that prayer should be “private”.Following a row over Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy’s criticism of the event during Wednesday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called for mass Muslim prayer to be banned in public. However, ministers have now made it clear that there are “no plans” to introduce a ban to public prayer.
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Telling GB News why she supports Mr Farage’s call to ban public prayer, Ms Brown argued: “To be honest with you, I support banning of public prayer because prayer is a very private thing and it needs to be. “We have mosques and we have churches and so many houses of God that we could practise our prayer there. And I do see how it can be intimidating to other religions.”She added: “So it’s nice to keep the country neutral, the public spaces to be kept neutral and no public prayer. I understand how it could be very demeaning to others.”Agreeing with the criticism led by Mr Timothy and Mr Farage about the event, Ms Brown said it was an “attempt to overtake, intimidate and dominate our way of life”.She told GB News: “The way it was constructed, the scale of it is gigantic, and we’ve never had these issues before. “And this is the problem with what people don’t realise, we’ve never had these issues before, we’ve never had them under other mayors.”She stressed: “But all of a sudden Sadiq Khan comes along and he starts to politicise Islam over and over again. “He’s always given it like a heads up, although he’s, to be honest with you, I would beg to differ that he’s protecting Islam. I say that he is trying to create this division and it’s winning. He is literally winning.”LATEST DEVELOPMENTSSadiq Khan’s car ban plan under fire as London Mayor faces backlash over costs’Ridiculous!’ Sadiq Khan torn apart by Richard Tice after calling for Britain to rejoin the EUSadiq Khan skewered for ‘biased’ mass open prayer after Tory criticism: ‘Tone deaf!’Speaking as a Muslim woman, Ms Brown argued that “no moderate Muslim” would “actually care” about a public prayer.She said: “He must be laughing at what’s happening right now because no Muslim, no moderate Muslim actually cares about public prayer. “We have been persecuted. I personally have been persecuted, my family were persecuted, and only when we came to the UK we were allowed to practice our religion without persecution.”Now do I want to overstep my mark and bully people? No, but this is exactly what Sadiq Khan is doing. He is overstepping the mark.”Making clear that everyone of every faith “is welcome” in London, Ms Brown concluded: “I do agree that people are definitely welcome, and one thing about Muslims especially during Ramadan time, they will welcome anyone. “However, this is exactly my point. Why are they doing it? It’s not a religious obligation to be done on the streets. We have been given hundreds of mosques, so how much more do you want?”In a statement, a spokesman for Sir Sadiq has told the People’s Channel: “The Mayor was proud that thousands of Londoners from all faiths, races and backgrounds united in the heart of the capital for the Ramadan Tent project’s hugely successful Open Iftar programme.”Together they showed the world that London will always be a city that celebrates and champions our diversity as we build a better and a fairer London for everyone.”
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