Tory MPs have privately criticised the government’s decision to build a memorial for Muslims who died fighting for Britain in the two world wars.
In messages to a Conservative MPs’ WhatsApp group seen by the Guardian, two Tory MPs elected in 2019 – Marco Longhi and Jill Mortimer – questioned why a memorial for Muslims was needed. The disclosure raises questions about the attitude towards Muslims in some sections of the Conservative party.
Both Mortimer and Longhi are allies of Lee Anderson, the former deputy Tory chairman who had the whip suspended last month following remarks about Sadiq Khan.
Anderson refused to apologise for telling GB News that Islamists had “got control of” the London mayor and that he had “given our capital city away to his mates”.
In the budget last week, Jeremy Hunt announced a £1m war memorial to honour Muslims who died “in the service of freedom and democracy” during the two world wars.
“Whatever your faith or colour or class, this country will never forget the sacrifices made for our future,” the chancellor said. There are already war memorials for Sikhs and Catholics.
Responding to a message from a Treasury special adviser who announced the memorial for Muslims to the Tory MPs’ WhatsApp group, Longhi asked: “So is the memorial for all religious groupings or for all religions? When soldiers die at war they die for their country, irrespective of religion. Furthermore, why wouldn’t the PM announce this? I still fail to see how this is about fiscal policy. Please explain.”
In a further message to the group later in the week Longhi asked: “Can somebody in the Treasury team explain to me which part of fiscal policy is relevant to war memorials and how it should apply to any specific religion? I have constituents asking about the very first budget announcement.”
Mortimer said in the group: “When Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the headstones if [sic] the dead in WW1 did so in a simplistic dignified manner. All the same regardless of rank, race or religion. The only differences marked by a simple symbol or in the inscription. I think he had the right idea – to single peoples out is to reinforce division.”
It comes after Anderson’s remarks about Khan and suspension from the Tory whip triggered an internal row about Islamophobia in the Conservative party.
Longhi is a close friend of Anderson’s and has defended his remarks about Khan, saying he should not apologise for them. Longhi told the BBC last week: “I think it’s right that Lee works this out and I would like to see him return in the Conservative fold as soon as possible.”
A Tory MP from the centrist One Nation caucus said: “30p Lee’s lapdog Longhi doesn’t seem to even know his own constituency, which itself has a sizeable Muslim population. Perhaps if this gang of right-wing wannabes actually knew their own voters they could be dangerous, thankfully they spend too much time in the Carlton Club plotting their next appearance on GB News.”
Mortimer has also criticised Anderson’s suspension. In leaked messages to a WhatsApp group for Tory MPs who were elected in 2019, Mortimer shared feedback from her constituents saying that they would not vote Tory again and that “Lee Anderson’s suspension is the final nail in the party’s coffin”.
The decision to build the memorial for Muslims who died in the world wars came following a campaign by Sajid Javid, the former chancellor.
A war memorial honouring Catholics who died in the world wars and Korean war exists inside Westminster Cathedral in London. There are memorials for Sikh soldiers in Leicester, Wolverhampton and at the National Memorial Arboretum; the Chattri memorial near Brighton is for Hindu and Sikh soldiers who died in the first world war; and a memorial for African and Caribbean soldiers is in Windrush Square, Brixton.
An estimated 750,000 Muslims from the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and North Africa fought for the UK in the two world wars.
