Trafalgar Square iftar event 'pushed women to the back' and was 'not welcoming', says Kemi Badenoch

Want LBC stories before everyone else? Set us as your Preferred Source on Google

The Conservative Party leader has backed her shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, who faced criticism for saying "mass ritual prayer in public places is an act of domination" in response to the event.

Mrs Badenoch told LBC's Natasha Clark: "I very much back. Nick Timothy, it is important that we have this debate.

"I think Trafalgar Square is a wonderful space. I used to work opposite it. People should be able to have religious festivities. However, those need to be within the shared norms and values which we have."

She said when Diwali is celebrated in Trafalgar Square, "it's open and welcoming to everyone".

"I don't want to see people pushing women to the back in an exclusionary event with the Mayor of London sitting in the middle of it," she said of the Open Iftar event.

Read more: Cyprus' president calls for ‘frank discussion’ on future of ‘colonial’ UK bases

Read more: ‘It’s flat-out prejudice': Minister demands Tory MP is sacked for branding Muslim public prayer an ‘act of domination'

Mrs Badenoch suggested the event was not a welcome space for women and people of other faiths.

"There weren't that many women there anyway," she said. "And it was not something that was welcoming to other people."

She added: "The things that we see in Trafalgar Square, you know, the Passion of the Christ, the Valley events, and so many other things, they are open, they are religion saying, come and join us, not keep out. This is just for us. There is a big difference."

Approximately 3,000 people were expected to attend the event held by the Ramadan Tent Project.

Similar religious gatherings have long taken place in the capital, such as the Jewish celebration of Chanukah and Easter Sunday processions.

Sir Keir Starmer used Prime Minister’s Questions to call for Mr Timothy to be sacked, claiming the comments showed the Tories had a “problem with Muslims”, and pressed opposition leader Mrs Badenoch to “denounce” them.

At PMQs, he said: “She appointed the shadow justice secretary. He said last night that Muslims praying in public, including the mayor of London, practising his faith, are not welcome.

“He described it as an act of domination. Straight from the Islamist playbook. If he was in my team, he’d be gone. It’s utterly appalling. She should denounce his comments and she should sack him.”

Mrs Badenoch said Mr Timothy was “defending British values” rather than “abolishing jury trials”, drawing comparisons with Justice Secretary David Lammy.

London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, who attended the event, has branded Mr Timothy's comments a “disgrace” to the Conservative Party, and a “megaphone dog whistle”.

At a campaign event on Wednesday evening, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage echoed Mr Timothy’s comments, saying the event in Trafalgar Square was “a group of people, headed up by the ghastly Sadiq Khan, attempting dominance over our capital city and our culture”.

He told an audience in Thurrock, Essex: “We are not going to surrender everything that was built over centuries, defended at a cost of great blood in two world wars, for us to be a free and independent nation. We will not put up with this any more.”