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Mr Jenrick, a former home office minister, was criticised by former Conservative party chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Labour MPs Naz Shah and Afzal Khan, among others. <\/p>\n
In a social media post, Baroness Warsi said: “Every day before we start parliamentary business in the Commons and Lords we say a prayer and praise God – we say our parliamentary version of Allahu Akbars at the heart of democracy – a process Robert Jenrick is a part of. <\/p>\n
“This language from Jenrick is more of his usual nasty divisive rhetoric – he is such a tool.”<\/p>\n
Ms Shah, the MP for Bradford West, called Mr Jenrick’s comments “textbook Islamophobia”.<\/p>\n
His comments “literally equates every Muslim in the world with extremism” she argued. <\/p>\n
In a social media post she said: \u201cImagine in this climate, either being that ignorant or deliberately trying to stigmatise all Muslims. He should apologise and speak to Muslim communities and learn more about our faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
Afzal Khan, another Labour MP, said: \u201cAnother day, another senior Tory being Islamophobic. <\/p>\n
“Allahu Akbar means God is great \u2013 the Muslim equivalent of hallelujah. Jenrick\u2019s confidence in going on national TV to say people should be arrested for saying Allahu Akbar exposes his deep-seated prejudice against Muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: \u201cPeople like Robert Jenrick have been stirring up some of the problems that we\u2019ve seen in our communities. <\/p>\n
“Actually, what we want to see is communities come together, and the vast majority of the community want to see that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mr Jenrick stood by his comments in a later social media post.<\/p>\n
He said: “Allahu Akbar is spoken peacefully and spiritually by millions of British Muslims in their daily lives\u201d.<\/p>\n
But \u201caggressive chanting\u201d of the phrase as seen by gangs of men in balaclavas in Birmingham was \u201can offence under Section 4 and 5 of the Public Order Act\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Baroness Warsi accused Mr Jenrick of being dishonest and called on him to apologise.<\/p>\n
“You do not get to go on national broadcasters and say one thing and try and pretend you said something else after,” she said.<\/p>\n
Mr Jenrick is one of six candidates vying to replace Rishi Sunak as leader of the Conservative Party. He is facing:<\/p>\n
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\n- \n
Kemi Badenoch<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
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James Cleverly<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Priti Patel<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Mel Stride<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Tom Tugendhat<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n
A winner will be announced on 2 November.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/picture><\/span>PA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n