Sajid Javid fifth MP sent 'Punish a Muslim' letter in two-year 'hate campaign'

Sajid Javid has become the fifth MP to be a sent a suspicious package with a letter calling for a 'punish a Muslim' day.

The communities secretary tweeted a picture of the racist letter which called for extreme violence against Muslims. As well as a 'low-level noxious' substance that resulted in several staff members in MPs' offices being taken to hospital, the packages included a letter calling for April 3 to be a 'punish a Muslim' day.

The letter listed a range of abusive activities from 'pull the head scarf off a Muslim woman', which amounted to 25 'points', to 'nuke Mecca', which was given 2,500 points.

The letter reads: 'They have hurt you, they have made your loved ones suffer. They have caused you pain and heartache. What are you going to do about it? Are you a sheep like the vast majority of the population?'

It comes as the monitoring group Tell Mama warned the letters bear the hallmarks of a two-year hate campaign on both sides of the Atlantic.

The 'Punish a Muslim' letters contain a number of similarities to letters sent to mosques in London, South Yorkshire and the US in 2016-17, including sharing the same postmark, the group said.

Steve Rose of Tell Mama, which records anti-Muslim incidents, said the letters appeared to have a similar symbol and sign-off. 'It appears to be an updated version of what was in the letters last year,' he said, according to the Guardian. 'The letters seem to have been sent to individuals, businesses and families with perceived Muslim-sounding names.'

The other MPs to have received the letter are Labour's Rupa Huq, Rushanara Ali, Mohammad Yasin and Afzal Khan.

Theresa May condemned the campaign in Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

She said: 'I am sure that the whole House will join me in condemning this unacceptable and abhorrent behaviour, which has no place in our society.

An investigation is under way and steps are being taken to bring the perpetrators to justice.'