Excerpt:
A UK Independence Party peer, Lord Pearson, has been reported to the Speaker of the House of Lords, Lady D'Souza, for suggesting in a debate in the House that Lee Rigby's killers had drawn inspiration for their attack from the Koran.
His comments came after a statement by Prime Minister David Cameron on the killing of Fusilier Drummer Lee Rigby by Islamist militants was read out in the House of Lords. In the statement, Cameron opined that the murder was a betrayal of Islam and Britain's Muslim communities.
In the debate that followed, Pearson, who led Ukip at the last general election, told his fellow peers "My lords, are the government aware that Fusilier Rigby's murderers quoted 22 verses of the Koran to justify their atrocity? Therefore, is the Prime Minister accurate or helpful when he describes it as a betrayal of Islam? Since the vast majority of Muslims are our peace-loving friends, should we not encourage them to address the violence in the Koran – and indeed in the life and the example of Muhammad?"