It can only be a matter of days since he was selected but already the Tory candidate for London Mayor is embroiled in controversy.
The Independent reports that Shaun Bailey is at the centre of an Islamophobia row after he shared a tweet that meant thousands of his followers saw a message referring to Labour’s Sadiq Khan as “mad mullah Khan of Londonistan”.
Apparently, Bailey retweeted a post last year which had shared a picture of Mr Khan and a racist caption which also branded Labour as “anti-British”. The Tories are claiming that he is not to blame but it is an all too familiar story: a candidate caught out by their social media history:
The Conservative Party told The Independent there is “no way” Mr Bailey would have seen the offensive caption on the picture before sharing the post, as to do so one must click to open it.
But a London Labour MP branded the picture sent to more than 10,000 of Mr Bailey’s followers as “absolutely disgraceful” and accused the Tory politician of seeking to wage an Islamophobic campaign against Mr Khan.
The Tories have form on this of course. Zac Goldsmith was accused of running an Islamophobic campaign for London Mayor last time. All the indications are that the Conservative Party's problem with Islamophobia is at least as bad as Labour's with anti-Semitism. Isn't it time they sorted it out?
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