Sadiq Khan Calls On Conservatives To Discipline Fabricant Over Tweet
13 July 2018, 11:21 | Updated: 13 July 2018, 12:49
Sadiq Khan called on the Conservative Party to take action against MP Michael Fabricant for his controversial tweet about him.
The Tory MP tweeted a mocked-up picture of the Mayor's face on a balloon which was being mounted by a pig.
Speaking to James O'Brien, Mr Khan said he should face disciplinary action.
He said: "Michael Fabricant was an MP when I was an MP and he's never expressed views to me that I would find objectionable. I'm surprised.
"I would expect that if a member of a mainstream party who is an MP to have tweeted what he tweeted, his party would take action against him.
"If it was my party having those views, I would take it up with the leadership."
Mr Khan continued: "When there's been allegations of anti-Semitism in my party from members, I've raised them with my party and spoken out against them.
"You know the allegations against the Conservative Party, not just in my campaign, but from senior people including the Chair of the party.
"I've got confidence, I say holding my breath, that the Conservative Party will take the relevant action against Michael Fabricant."
Mr Fabricant has since deleted the tweet, and has denied accusations of Islamophobia.
— Michael Fabricant (@Mike_Fabricant) July 13, 2018
Issuing an apology on social media, he wrote: “When I saw the picture, I thought it was just a funny cartoon of a flying pig doing something to the baby Trump blimp.
“This followed on from my remarks on tv about the hypocrisy of the anti-Trump demos and the ridiculous blimp.
“Instead, it was something quite different and very nasty. Once I realise what it was, I deleted it. All within a couple of minutes or so.”
