Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton has labelled comments such as those by MP Lee Anderson made about Sadiq Khan as “despairingly racist”.
Mr Anderson was suspended from the Conservative Party last weekend after refusing to apologise for claiming “Islamists” had “control” over London and its mayor, Mr Khan.
Now, in an interview with Sky News, Rev Sharpton has said the UK has seen “the allowance of using racism, Islamophobia and homophobia as a political weapon”.
“The more it is allowed and permitted, the more it poisons the atmosphere and separates people,” he said.
Rev Sharpton, who is well-known for having spent decades fighting for justice and equality, added that race relations in the UK are “not what they need to be”.
Politics latest: Anderson refuses to budge as Post Office CEO stuns MPs
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Lee Anderson refused to speak to Sky News on Tuesday morning
Responding to the fact Prime Minister Rishi Sunak previously described the UK as “the most successful multi-ethnic democracy in the world,” he said: “Well, I think that it may be according to the prime minister – but compared to what?
“I could say that I am the most handsome guy in the world if I’m standing by myself.
“To evaluate yourself is easy. Evaluation must come from others.”
He added: “When you have members of the government that speak in such despairingly racist terms as we have a Republican candidate, former president of the United States – the freedom they feel they can express that tells us that maybe the prime minister is putting sunshine glasses on?”
