David Cameron has applauded the witness to the Leytonstone tube station attack who shouted at the knife-wielding man: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv.”
The prime minister said although he and others had dedicated speeches and media appearances to making the same point, the anonymous person who made the comment after the suspect had been subdued by police “said it all much better than I ever could”.
The taunt, which was caught on camera, became a rallying call for unity in the aftermath of the attack on Saturday night.
Cameron was in Derby, where he was making an announcement about housing, when he was asked to comment on the events at the east London tube station.
A 29-year-old man appeared at Westminster magistrates court in London on Monday accused of the attempted murder of a 56-year-old passenger. The victim has requested anonymity. The court heard he underwent five hours of surgery following the attack. The suspect will appear at the Old Bailey on Friday.
Asked about the incident, Cameron described it as “hideous” and paid tribute to the passersby who tried to take on the attacker, as well as the police who finally subdued him.
“Let me also pay credit to the person – you can’t quite see who it is from that film – who made that brilliant statement about, er, ‘you ain’t no Muslim’,” Cameron said.
“Some of us have dedicated speeches and media appearances and soundbites and everything to this subject. But ‘you ain’t no Muslim bruv’ said it all much better than I ever could. Thank you because that will be applauded around the country.”
However, Twitter users were barely able to believe Cameron had uttered the phrase in its original London dialect.
At least one Twitter user had predicted that Cameron would reference the quote. James Bamborough tweeted last night: “David Cameron is DEFINITELY going to say you aint no muslim bruv at some point putting on an urban accent. Be prepared #YouAintNoMuslimBruv.”