Well well well...
en.wikipedia.org
Aside from being a failed UKIP leader...
Criticism of Islam
In 2009, Lord Pearson and cross-bencher Baroness Cox invited the Dutch Freedom Party leader, Geert Wilders, to show the anti-Islam film Fitna before the House of Lords.[24] Jacqui Smith,[25] then Home Secretary, subsequently excluded Wilders from entry to the UK. In response, Pearson and Cox accused the then Government of "appeasing" militant Islam.[26] Wilders appealed successfully against his exclusion, and the film was eventually shown in the Lords in 2010.[27]
Pearson warned in 2013 that UK Muslim communities were home to "thousands of potential home-grown terrorists". He said Sharia law was "running de facto in our land" and that calls for violence were not simply coming from a "few extremists", stating: "These people hate us with frightening religious fervour and we are right to fear them." His comments were condemned by Sayeeda Warsi, the Minister of State for Faith and Communities, who responded by stating: "It points at best to an ignorance about Islam and at worst a deliberate attempt to perpetuate a distorted image of the faith."[28]
In 2014, Pearson suggested that the Quran had inspired the murder of Lee Rigby, referring to "the violence in the Qur'an – and indeed in the life and the example of Muhammad". Member of Parliament Yasmin Qureshi called Pearson's words "lies" and "nonsensical rubbish", while another MP, Khalid Mahmood, called them Islamophobic and said: "Obviously he hasn't read the Qur'an. Islam is about submission to the Almighty. It is not about war against anybody else."[29]
Pearson invited Tommy Robinson to Parliament in 2018. A UKIP spokesperson said that Pearson had invited journalists to report on a question he asked in the House of Lords about grooming gangs and that Robinson was one of 160 people contacted by Pearson.[30][31][32]
In 2023, it was revealed that Pearson and Baroness Cox were members of a secret group called the New Issues Group, which had been operating out of the House of Lords for over a decade and collaborated with far-right, anti-Muslim activists.[33] Pearson has been described as a part of the counter-jihad movement.[34]
