Britain's leading law officer called for tolerance on Friday after Trafalgar Square's role as a symbolic gathering point for religious festivals was called into question following a Ramadan event.
Attorney General Richard Hermer challenged the leader of the opposition Conservatives, Kemi Badenoch, over her criticism of Muslims praying before a public iftar in the central London square this week.
Lord Hermer, who is Jewish, asked Ms Badenoch if she would seek to block Jewish prayer in public and urged her to clarify her comments.
The row broke out after shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy criticised Muslim prayers before a public iftar attended by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
The breaking of the fast preceded by prayers has been taking place in Trafalgar Square for the past six years. The landmark plaza has also been regularly used to celebrate Christian, Sikh, Hindu and Jewish religious festivals.
Ms Badenoch backed Mr Timothy’s comments when she was asked about them on Thursday. She said that public expressions of religion should “fit within the norms of British culture” and was critical of the fact that men and women were separated for the prayers.
Mr Hermer told The Guardian that Ms Badenoch needed to clarify her view. “Nick Timothy has said mass prayer in public places is an act of ‘domination’,” he said. “But when he and Kemi Badenoch were questioned about his appalling views, they seemed to only have an issue with Muslim events.
“Timothy and Badenoch’s comments beg the question – would they have a problem if I as a Jewish man, were praying in public? Or is it just Muslim prayer they find offensive, and contrary to ‘British values’?
“The Conservative party, like Reform and [far-right activist] Tommy Robinson, is seeking to divide Britain. Instead, they should be celebrating our brilliantly welcoming and diverse country.”
The iftar was organised by the Ramadan Tent Project. It hosts open iftars throughout Ramadan in well-known locations and football clubs across the UK, with many non-Muslims also attending.
The Mayor of London will also host a re-enactment of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday, at the start of the Easter weekend in early April. The performance has been running annually for 10 years and attracts thousands of spectators.
Jewish News, a newspaper that sponsors the annual Chanukah in the Square, said the issue was the right to express religious identity in the UK.
“The question here is not one of whether such prayer is an attempt to 'dominate', it said. “It is about whether one has the right to publicly express their religious identity in this country.”
Reform UK party leader Nigel Farage described the iftar in Trafalgar Square as an “attempt to overtake” public life in London and called for all public religious gatherings to be banned.
“We have to stop this kind of mass demonstration, provocative demonstration, in historic British sites, because that’s what it is,” he said on Thursday.
Danny Kruger, another Reform MP, said he was happy with small groups in prayer but not mass ritual observances that undermined the country's Christian traditions or claimed the space for other religions.
