The fall of the Tory party

Shami Chakrabarti

Having heard the interviews of the ministers, I’m just completely
horrified that they wouldn’t they wouldn’t call this for what it is.
And I think if you don’t call it at that level, you’re somehow
licensing it.

If they say that this gentleman didn’t make the remarks that I’m
reading right now in the Guardian in quote marks, if he didn’t make
those remarks, then that can be said.

But if he did make those remarks, that is proper, misogynistic, race
hate speech. And that should not be tolerated anywhere, and not in the
highest echelons of the British Conservative party, and not from
someone who’s brought himself £10m’s worth of influence in our
country, and in government.

She appealed to Sunak to “put his own house in order” if he wants to
show he is serious about tackling extremism. She said: I say to the
prime minister, our first non white prime minister, please, please do
something about this. You stood last week on the steps of Downing
Street and you said you wanted to tackle extremism. We’ve got
[Michael] Gove who’s going to put out some new, broad definition of
extremism. There’s lots of there’s lots of divisive politics being
played here.

And yet they won’t call out what’s happening in their own in their own
policy at the highest echelons …

This kind of comment made by a very, very significant major donor to
the party of government is terrifying. This is not where I thought our
wonderful country would be nearly a quarter of the way into the 21st
century.

Mr Sunak needs to put his own house in order before he starts
lecturing anybody else, whether protesters or anybody else, about
extremism.

She said that the level of abuse Abbott has suffered is “phenomonal”.
As evidence, she cited an Amnesty International report from 2017
saying Abbott experience more online abuse than anyone else in
parliament. She said that she was very anxious on behalf of her
friend. Asked how Abbott was responding to the controversy,
Chakrabarti replied: She’s anxious and she’s upset but, as she always
does, she’s putting a brave face on and trying not to worry her
friends. But I have to say my heart is pounding, and I’m really upset
and anxious on her behalf.