A BRADFORD MP has accused Rishi Sunak of using an "Islamophobic trope" after he asked a Muslim MP to "call on Hamas and the Houthis to de-escalate the situation".

Bradford West Labour MP Naz Shah said it was a "painful blow" by the Prime Minister and called on him to apologise to Coventry South Labour MP Zarah Sultana.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Naz Shah Naz Shah (Image: Archive)

Ms Sultana was speaking in the House of Commons yesterday after Mr Sunak said the UK was willing to take further military action against Houthi rebels - hours after the Yemen-based group fired another missile at a container ship in the Red Sea.

Speaking in Parliament Ms Sultana said: "Past mistakes in the Middle East should have taught this house that military interventions starting out as limited can quickly escalate, risking a sequence of events far larger and more terrible and risk even dragging us into war.

"It is for this reason, according to reports in The Times, that Foreign Office officials were, and I quote, incredibly nervous about last week's military assault in Yemen.

"Driving the region's instability is Israel's horrifying assault on Gaza, which has now lasted more than 100 days.

"So rather than giving Israel the green light to continue its brutal bombardment on Gaza and risking a wider conflict, will the Prime Minister seek to de-escalate the situation and call for an immediate ceasefire?"

'Shame on you'

In response to this, Mr Sunak said: "Perhaps the honourable lady would do well to call on Hamas and the Houthis to de-escalate the situation."

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Rishi SunakRishi Sunak (Image: Archive)

Ms Sultana could be heard shouting: "Shame on you."

Later in the session, Ms Shah criticised the Prime Minister for his response to Ms Sultana.

She said: "It really has been a new low, and a new painful blow, for the Prime Minister to have said to a British Muslim in this house, the member for Coventry South, that she should tell Hamas and Houthis to stop doing what they're doing.

"That is an Islamophobic trope. 

"Maybe the Prime Minister will reflect, withdraw and take the opportunity to show leadership and apologise."

Mr Sunak replied: "I have said to all members consistently not to conflate these conflicts and, when they are calling on the UK to de-escalate tensions, to recognise the people who are causing these situations in the first place is the Hamas terrorist organisation and the Houthis."