True. That would accurately reflect the Tory position. Also the BBC and all journalists should be trying to join the dots on this. Anderson's remarks, his failure to apologise, and the Tory party's refusal to condemn the comments are part of a wider political push to paint all Muslims as extremist. Just as it would be wrong to condemn all Germans as Nazi, it is a profoundly bigoted view, and it has moved from the fringe actors to mainstream political parties.
In the early 2000s, Nick Griffin, the leader of the BNP was saying, 'there's no such thing as moderate Islam'(
Belfast Telegraph).
In 2012, in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders was saying 'there's no such thing as moderate Islam' (
Newsweek).
By 2014, Gerard Batten of UKIP, was saying it (
Huffington Post)
By 2018 Batten was leader of UKIP, and in 2019 his successor, Richard Braine, was saying it (
The Times).
And now in 2024, the seeded narrative - that all Muslims are extremists - has gone properly mainstream, allowing serving members of the government to assert that sympathy with residents of Gaza represents Islamism or anti-semitism:
- Andrew Percy has claimed in parliament that he felt safer in warring Israel than in the UK
- Suella Braverman has miscast overwhelmingly peaceful campaigners for a ceasefire in Gaza as militant, saying "the truth is that the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now".
- Robert Jenrick, in the same vein, has claimed that 'we have allowed our streets to be dominated by Islamist extremists'
- Liz Truss has imagined a 'jihadist' candidate for the Rochdale by-election and
- Lee Anderson unleashed an evidence-free claim that Sadiq Khan was 'the control' of Islamists.
All nuance has gone from our political discourse. It is a disgrace.