'He can report me all he wants': Sammy Wilson responds to MP's criticism of 'Muslim thugs' comment
Sammy Wilson is standing by remarks about "Muslim thugs" that he made in the House of Commons as a fellow MP threatens to report him to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
The East Antrim DUP MP, who is also the party's chief whip in the Commons in charge of keeping other MPs in line, said his comments were a legitimate contribution to a debate about the efforts of some Muslims to create “no-go areas for Jews”.
It all stems from the banning of Israeli football fans last month from a game against Aston Villa in Birmingham (a city with a sizable Muslim population).
The controversy began in mid-October, when it was announced that the supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv would not be permitted at the match.
Birmingham City Council said this had come about after its Safety Advisory Group "provided advice to Aston Villa Football Club," which in turn had been "based on a risk assessment provided by West Midlands Police".
Aston Villa meanwhile described the Safety Advisory Group's input as "an instruction", not mere advice, adding that West Midlands Police "have public safety concerns outside the stadium bowl and the ability to deal with any potential protests on the night".
The decision was heavily criticised, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying that "the role of the police is to ensure all football fans can enjoy the game, without fear of violence or intimidation".
The backdrop to this is that trouble had flared at a Maccabi Tel Aviv match in Amsterdam in November 2024.
The Dutch prime minister said at the time that the club's fans were the target of "antisemitic attacks against Israelis and Jews".
It was also reported that there had been disorder from the Maccabi fans; for example, Sky News reported that "Maccabi fans tore a Palestinian flag off a building in Amsterdam, set another on fire and chanted anti-Arab slogans on their way to the stadium".
Then, just over a week ago, the Sunday Times reported that West Midlands Police's own internal assessment that hundreds of Maccabi fans had been involved in organised violence in Amsterdam was disputed by the Dutch police themselves.
Speaking in the Commons on November 24, Mr Wilson said that it is now clear that the information used to ban the Israeli fans from Birmingham had been "a tissue of lies".
He went on to tell MPs: "It appears that the West Midlands police have given in to pressure from Muslim politicians and Muslim thugs.
"As a result, the Jewish community are once again left feeling that they are the disadvantaged people."
In response, independent Birmingham MP Ayoub Khan, who is Muslim, told the online publication Middle East Eye: "Here we are, facing a situation in which an MP openly used the phrase 'Muslim thugs'.
"He could easily have said 'thugs'. He chose not to.
"He attached a religion, an already targeted and vulnerable community, to criminality."
Mr Khan was further quoted as saying: "I will be lodging a formal complaint with the standards commissioner, because no community should be dehumanised in this way, and no MP should be permitted to use such divisive language without consequence."
Now Mr Wilson has told the News Letter: "He can report all he wants to the parliamentary commissioner."
His comments were "legitimate" and he "totally" stands by them, he said.
Mr Wilson said there is "an element" within the Muslim community at large that wants to see “no-go areas for Jews", and that his own comments in parliament were "part of a legitimate debate on a very, very important issue, namely that a council, acting on police advice or backed up by police advice, banned people of a certain racial background to coming to attend a football match – now that's very, very serious in the context of democracy".
Mr Wilson added that what worries him about the police’s approach is that “if they think that telling the truth is going to cause community tension, because there are thugs in those communities who will use decisions to stir up trouble, then they back off”.
He concluded: “They did it in Rotherham and allowed wee girls to be raped.
"And they've done it in Birmingham and allowed fans to be refused permission to watch their football team."