Conservative MP Michael Fabricant has been branded ‘racist’ and ‘Islamophobic’, with many calling on him to resign or be sacked, after the Lichfield Tory shared an image on Twitter which appeared to depict the London Mayor Sadiq Khan – who is a Muslim – being mounted by a pig.
Fabricant posted the tweet, which also featured an image of Donald Trump laughing and Sadiq Khan’s head the body of an inflatable pig, in response to fierce criticism of the US President’s visit to the UK.
Sadiq Khan recently faced criticism from right-wingers after he granted permission for protestors to fly an inflatable blimp depicting Donald Trump as a baby.
And following Khan’s decision, numerous social media users began sharing similar anti-Islamic memes and images hitting out at the London Mayor.
Fabricant’s tweet, however, contained an image of Donald Trump laughing in front of Parliament, with two inflatable pig balloons in the sky – one of which had Sadiq Khan’s head superimposed onto it whilst the other appeared to be mounting him.
The image read: “Breaking news: Trump defeats Sadiq Khan in balloon wars“, whilst Fabricant quipped that “Well, what can I say?“.
Fabricant swiftly deleted the tweet, but not before numerous Twitter users were able to screenshot it:
https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1017471991463534592
This racist tweet, now deleted, is from Tory @Mike_Fabricant pic.twitter.com/BzownMtgjG
— Mr Ethical (@nw_nicholas) July 12, 2018
Disgusting. Tweeting racism is not a good look for a Conservative MP when there is a real problem with Islamophobia in the Tory party.
— Luke Pollard MP (@LukePollard) July 12, 2018
This is disgusting, racist stuff @Mike_Fabricant – you should be ashamed of yourself.
— Stephen Doughty MP (@SDoughtyMP) July 12, 2018
The Lichfield Tory has form when it comes to offensive tweets: once tweeting that he’d like to punch a female journalist in the throat, as well refusing to apologise after branding a teenage student a ‘tw*t’.
And now, Fabricant’s latest tweet comes just weeks after an Islamophobia scandal engulfed the Conservative Party.
Following numerous Tory politicians and candidates being suspended for Islamophobia and abuse during the run up to May’s Local Elections, former Tory Minister Baroness Warsi revealed in April that there were now weekly incidents of Islamophobia in the party.
Baroness Warsi’s incredible revelation led to the Muslim Council of Britain reiterating their demand for an investigation into anti-Muslim hatred within the Conservative Party.
However, following a further formal demand from the both the MCB and the Conservative Muslim Forum, the mainstream media finally bothered to report the story.
However, following Fabricant’s latest outburst, calls for the Tories to stop ignoring the problem and act on demands for an investigation will no doubt grow stronger.
However, backed by their loyal minions in the media, we will not be holding our breath waiting for the BBC to report on Fabricant’s misdemeanour.
Should the BBC fail to report it, it will stand in complete contrast to their stance on Labour MP Naz Shah, who the BBC decided to refer to yesterday as the ‘Anti-Semitism row MP’, despite the storm around her historic tweet now being more than two years old.
