Former British Prime Minister Liz Truss has sparked controversy by claiming the Labour Party is influenced by “Islamism” and linking this to an alleged failure to address “grooming gangs.” Truss made the remarks during an interview on The Peter McCormack Show, which was released on Friday and garnered nearly 300,000 views within three days.
“We know that there is an ideology of Islamism which has become more powerful in British politics,” Truss said, referencing the recent political discourse surrounding grooming gangs. “We’ve seen at the last election four Islamist MPs were elected.”
Truss accused Muslim independent MPs of being “Islamist MPs” and connected Islamism to “climate change extremism.” She further claimed that police had failed to prosecute abusers due to “political correctness” and alleged that local councillors had “deliberately covered up and aided and abetted what happened.”
Independent MP Shockat Adam dismissed Truss’s comments, stating, “Divisive rhetoric is not going to define who we are and who I am.” He described Truss as “irrelevant” but emphasized the need for public figures to use “nuanced language in this polarised world.”
Four independent candidates—Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohammed, and Adam—elected on a pro-Palestinian platform in the July general election, have not identified themselves as Islamist. They are part of the parliamentary Independent Alliance, which includes former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Hussain expressed support for a new inquiry into sexual abuse and advocated for severe punishment for perpetrators. “They should be punished severely and made an example of,” he told Middle East Eye.
Truss continued to argue that Islamism was “influencing the Labour Party, because they do not want to lose votes.” She added, “We’ve got a combination of all those different things happening which creates a group think and creates a blindness to what’s going on. Or you could say it’s worse than blindness. You could say it’s deliberate neglect.”
Adam responded by urging responsibility, said, “We all have to work together and labels are not helpful.”
Truss also drew a connection between Islamism and “climate change extremism,” mentioning activist Greta Thunberg. “It’s no surprise that Greta Thunberg went from being an extremist on climate change… to being an extremist on Israel,” Truss said.
She criticized the BBC, claiming it exhibited anti-Israel bias, referencing a report by lawyer Trevor Asserson. The BBC’s international editor, Jeremy Bowen, dismissed the report as “deeply flawed.”
Truss’s remarks come as she continues to face criticism for her brief tenure as Prime Minister, particularly after her September 2022 mini-budget, which led to her resignation.
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