Reform UK’s Laila Cunningham has made it clear that race war is her campaign tactic for the 2028 London mayoral election.

Cunningham has said that women wearing a burqa in public should be subjected to ‘stop and search’, because:

It has to be assumed that if you’re hiding your face, you’re hiding it for a criminal reason.

Someone should ask the odious Ms Cunningham whether that also applies to the racists that she is clearly trying to appeal to, who are not exactly averse to a bit of mask-wearing in public and generally are hiding their faces “for a criminal reason”.

A masked far-right protester (image: Channel 4 News).

Crossbench peer Shaista Gohir described Cunningham’s comments as “dangerous” and a “dog whistle”.

If you go to parts of London, it does feel like a Muslim city. The signs are written in a different language. You’ve got burqas being sold in markets.

Reform tactics explained: Race hate

No one should be surprised at these tactics. Race hate is what Reform is built on, even before it existed. Farage made his name on the back of incitement, including his notorious 2016 “Breaking Point” poster.

Nor is it any surprise to hear this coming from Cunningham. Despite being Egyptian-born to Muslim parents, she has echoed Trumpist lies that there is “nowhere” safe in London and says that she does not “blame people” for hating Muslims. She claims there are towns in England that have been “taken over by Muslims” and has even said if she was racially abused that:

I’d never think to report it to the police, even if I knew who the person was, unless I felt a personal threat.

In fact, she considers even the idea of a definition of Islamophobia to be a “curb on freedom of speech”. Presumably because it might stop her saying things like burqas are a sign of criminal intent.

True to form, current London mayor Sadiq Khan said something milquetoast — with the emphasis on the ‘milque’ in case the toast is too tough — about “quintessentially British rights”. Maybe Starmer’s office, which is desperately trying to appeal to the same racists with things like a government TikTok page devoted to boasting about deportations — wrote it for him.

And therein is the real tragedy for Britain. Farage and Reform have nothing to offer but dog-whistles, blame and incitement; the Tories are as bad — and the rotten, hollowed-out shell of a Labour government wants to outdo them both.

Featured image supplied via author

By Skwawkbox

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