Conservative shadow minister falsely claims British imam supported Hamas attack
A Conservative shadow minister has been criticised for falsely claiming in parliament that a British imam had called for victory for Hamas and celebrated the 7 October attacks.
Mims Davies, shadow minister for women and shadow secretary of state for Wales, levelled the accusations against Imam Adam Kelwick on Wednesday during a meeting of parliament.
Kelwick, who is imam at Liverpool's Abdullah Quilliam Mosque, attended an iftar hosted by Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Downing Street last week.
Afterwards, false claims circulated online that he had prayed for Hamas, which he vehemently rebukes.
"The statement made in parliament was false, misleading and defamatory," Kelwick told Middle East Eye on Thursday.
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"I have never, and would never, express support for any terrorist organisation. My work speaks for itself, and will always be rooted in promoting harmony and bringing people together."
Last summer, Kelwick made headlines for embracing and feeding protesters outside his mosque after anti-Muslim misinformation was spread online about the killer of three children in Southport.
"I was just being nice to people who were being nasty," Kelwick said afterwards.
On Wednesday in the House of Commons, Davies asked equalities minister Seema Malhotra whether it was "acceptable for anyone in this country to say that people should pray for victory for Hamas over Israel, or for anyone to celebrate the 7 October attacks as a David-over-Goliath situation."
Davies added: "If not, why did the prime minister invite Adam Kelwick, who has said such despicable things, to Number 10 [Downing Street] just last week?
"Will the minister apologise on behalf of the prime minister to the Jewish community, who need to know that this government will stand with them against violence, hatred and division - and, in fact, with communities of all races and religions?"
Malhotra responded with a single line: "The shadow minister knows that Hamas is a proscribed organisation, and we will not tolerate antisemitism at any point, or in any way."
In an Instagram post on 28 October 2023, Kelwick had said: "Pray for peace, pray for mercy, pray for justice, pray for victory, pray for the deceased, pray for those still alive..."
There was no mention of Hamas in the post.
In a post on social media platform X on 11 October, Kelwick had said: "David beats Goliath!" There was no mention of Hamas in that post either - and no suggestion that Kelwick supported the 7 October Hamas-led attack on Israel.
'Countering extremism'
Parliamentary privilege means MPs cannot face legal action for defamatory statements made in parliament.
Later on Wednesday, Sarah Owen, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for British Muslims, raised a point of order with Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle, calling Davies' statement "totally inaccurate".
Owen said Kelwick "made absolutely no mention, in the post to which she referred, of Hamas or against Israel; that was added wrongly by the shadow minister. He, in fact, called for prayers of peace."
She added: "Adam has spent years working on countering extremism and even uniting people through food and conversations when rioters came to attack his local mosque in Liverpool last year.
Here is the PM having a lovely time in No10 with Adam Kelwick, an imam who invites people to "pray for [Hamas] victory" over Israel, celebrated 7 October as "David beats Goliath!", and hosts the worst of preachers at his mosque in Liverpool. pic.twitter.com/EXnckwIN6M
— Nick Timothy MP (@NJ_Timothy) March 15, 2025
"I ask that the honourable member correct the record, and I remind her that should she have made such statements outside the House, there would possibly be legal action."
MEE contacted Davies to ask if she would repeat her claim outside of parliament, or retract it.
"My call for prayers for peace was deliberately misrepresented," Kelwick told MEE. "It is disappointing to see my words so blatantly twisted in an attempt to score political points.
He added: "It is concerning that a member of parliament has abused parliamentary privilege to spread misinformation, and make false and slanderous claims against me - something that would be subject to legal action if it were said outside the houses of parliament.
"The shadow minister should retract her words and reflect on how and why these lies were shared in the first place."
Davies was not the first Conservative MP to have repeated false statements about Kelwick.
MP Nick Timothy posted last week that Kelwick invited people to "pray for [Hamas] victory" - inserting the word Hamas into the quote himself.
Kelwick said he has worked for years on "building bridges between Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and all other communities in the UK".
"I have, and will continue to call out the suffering of the innocent Palestinian people," he said, "as I have done consistently across different conflicts around the globe."
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