The incident happened on the Northern Line near Camden Town (Picture: Oliver Cooper/Getty)

Camden’s Tory leader intervened to stop a man verbally abusing two Muslim women on the tube this morning.

Oliver Cooper, 32, from Hampstead, said he was on the Northern Line when a man in his forties started hurling insults at the two women wearing hijab.

Mr Cooper told Metro.co.uk: ‘A man was shouting abuse, saying “You are no f**king Muslim, you are nothing, you are a f**king disgrace”.

‘I told him to stop abusing them and be quiet. He stood up, came across to me and started yelling abuse in my face.


‘He said about a dozen times, “I am going to f**k you up”. I said “No, you are going to sit down and be quiet.” He pushed me slightly but I’m not injured.



‘After about 45 seconds he went back and sat down.’

Oliver Cooper is leader of the Camden Conservative group (Picture: Oliver Cooper)

The incident happened on the Northern Line going south between Chalk Farm and Camden Town southbound.

Mr Cooper, who is a councillor for Hampstead, left the tube with the two women at Camden Town to make sure they were safe getting off.

He said: ‘There may be all sorts of things in his personal life but none that is a reason to be racist.

‘There were maybe 20 other people in the carriage most of whom were trying to pretend it wasn’t happening – I have been in that situation myself a few times.

‘He was in his early forties, thin, white, in relatively good shape. When he was squaring up to me and threatening me, I did feel under quite a lot of stress.

‘He was spitting, a couple of times deliberately. I think that adds a lot to the feeling of threat and pressure in the circumstances.’

Mr Cooper said he had reported the incident to police.

Just stopped a guy yelling abuse at two women wearing hijabs on the tube at Camden Town. The guy squared up to me and started spitting in my face that he’d “fuck me up”. I eventually talked him into sitting down. It got a bit hairy, but glad I didn’t just sit in silence. — Oliver Cooper (@OliverCooper) September 1, 2019

Surprised at how calmly I kept saying, “No, you’re going to sit down and be quiet” when the guy kept shouting inches from my face that he’d fuck me up. And surprised that he eventually complied, to be honest… — Oliver Cooper (@OliverCooper) September 1, 2019

I quietly made sure the women got off safe and unharassed at Camden Town, but in the adrenaline rush, I didn’t talk to them and check they were ok. Hope they are. — Oliver Cooper (@OliverCooper) September 1, 2019

He tweeted about the incident, writing: ‘It got a bit hairy, but glad I didn’t just sit in silence.

‘I quietly made sure the women got off safe and unharassed at Camden Town, but in the adrenaline rush, I didn’t talk to them and check they were okay. Hope they are.’

British Transport Police said: ‘BTP were called to Camden Town station at 12.20pm on September 1 following a report of racial abuse and an assault.

‘A man is reported to have racially abused two women; he then shouted at and pushed a man who intervened.

‘Enquiries into the incident and efforts to identify the suspect are ongoing.’

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