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‘I came to the UK as a refugee, but immigration has gone too far’

Zahawi admits he has become “a mere foot soldier, an activist for the party”, after leaving Parliament – with the co-founder of polling company YouGov now spending his time chairing the online retailer Very while hunting for other entrepreneurial opportunities. 

But he is following the leadership race with interest, saying the most important thing is for the party to unite. His opinion matters: should his bid to buy The Daily Telegraph be successful, he’d own one of the biggest conservative publications in the UK. (Asked about this, he confirms “there’s a process taking place at the moment”, but says he cannot comment any further on “a business deal”.) 

Although he’s not decided who to back in the Tory contest so far, he praises Jenrick’s previous idea of passing a legally binding cap on net immigration each year. But what did he make of another Jenrick proposal: saying that anyone who shouted “Allahu Akbar” should be “immediately arrested”, after complaints from Jewish communities that they felt intimidated by protests against Israel’s military action in Gaza? 

Jenrick has stood by this suggestion, despite party colleague Baroness Warsi slamming “his usual nasty divisive rhetoric” and calling him “a tool”. 

Zahawi was brought up in a liberal Muslim family where, he writes, “everyone drank and no one covered up”. Having forcefully criticised Islamic extremism himself many times, he is prepared to give Jenrick the benefit of the doubt. 

“‘Allah Akbar’ means ‘God is great,’” he says. “I don’t think Rob would be at all in a place where he’s against people who are practising their religion reminding themselves that God is great. What he’s talking about is people who hijack the religion… The reference he was making was to violent extremism, and chanting of the word of God as a way of intimidation.” 

Nadhim Zahawi has also supported the right-wing author Douglas Murray, who has been called “extremely Islamophobic” by the Muslim Council of Britain (Photo: GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP via Getty Images)
Nadhim Zahawi has supported the right-wing author Douglas Murray, who has been called ‘extremely Islamophobic’ by the Muslim Council of Britain (Photo: Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP)

Someone else Zahawi defended recently is even more controversial: the right-wing author Douglas Murray. Amid concerns about people inciting riots last month, a video was widely shared of the writer discussing pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year, in which he said: “If the army will not be sent in, then the public will have to go in, and the public will have to sort this out themselves, and it’ll be very, very brutal.” 

Zahawi wrote in a newspaper column last month that Murray had been “brave enough to warn that if the proper authorities do not grasp the nettle on issues of social cohesion and uniform upholding of the rule of law, then mobs will. He did not say this with glee but in deep lamentation.” 

But is Murray – who’s been labelled “extremely Islamophobic” by the Muslim Council of Britain – really someone Zahawi wants to stand alongside? 

In the same recording, for example, Murray said: “Almost 2 million Muslims are being moved by the Pakistani authorities into Afghanistan. Ok, we have a very large Pakistani community here in the UK – if their country of origin can do that, why can’t we?” 

Discussing Muslims generally, he said: “What do they mind? One thing: Jews living.” He added that Britain had “imported” this hatred. 

Murray also encouraged the idea that there is something intrinsically “bloody” about Islam, arguing in that video: “Muhammad beheaded hundreds and hundreds of Jews with his own hand.” 

Murray rejects the very term “Islamophobia”, previously saying he agrees with the late Christopher Hitchens that it is “a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons“. 

But listening to his statements now, it’s clear that Zahawi can see the problem. Still, he holds back from full condemnation and defends the right to free speech. He says: “My message to Douglas is: you really should not tar all Muslims with the same brush as the people that you’re right to be afraid of.” 

He urges Murray to visit the UAE, praising its “enlightened Muslim government” for the way he says it’s tackling extremism and embraces multiculturalism. (Amnesty International might have something to say about the idea of the UAE being progressive, however, given continued concerns about human rights there.) 

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