Muslim Council Urges Probe into Conservative Party’s Islamophobia

(CTN News) – The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) wrote to the ruling Conservative Party’s head, Richard Holden, on Monday, following a week of inflammatory rhetoric and Islamophobia from prominent party figures inciting hatred for Islam and Muslims.

The MCB wrote to the government party after Conservative Party whip Lee Anderson MP stated Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, was controlled by “Islamists” and extremists.

The Tory Party has since revoked Anderson’s whip, but the Muslim Council has urged that the Conservative Party investigate the institutional Islamophobia that has existed in the party for many years.

The MCB commented about Anderson: “We notice that he was only censured for refusing to apologise, not for expressing racist remarks in the first place. We also note that the whip was dropped only after widespread outrage, despite the Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet remaining silent.”

Muslim Council Points to 300 Cases of Islamophobia Previously Submitted

The request for a probe of structural Islamophobia in the Conservative Party comes after the MCB filed a dossier of 300 incidences of Islamophobia in the party.

Despite a poorly conceived probe into prejudice in 2022, this week’s radicalism in the Conservative Party indicates that hostility against Muslims remains widespread.

Zara Mohammed, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, wrote to Holden: “Our view is that Islamophobia in the Party is institutional, tolerated by the leadership, and seen as acceptable by great swathes of the party membership.”

She wrote: “Leaders, particularly those in politics, have the potential to create the agenda and a narrative, as well as contribute to Islamophobic hate crime, which has lately tripled, according to Tell Mama. These challenges cannot and must not be ignored.

The letter cited a week of extremism, including former Home Secretary Suella Braverman stating in The Daily Telegraph that “Islamists…are in charge” of Britain (a common conspiracy theory peddled by the far-right), as well as Robert Jendrick in the House of Commons and former deputy chairman Anderson’s statement about Muslim Mayor Sadiq Khan: “I don’t believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is that Former Prime Minister Liz Truss shared a platform with infamous far-right activist Steve Bannon and agreed with Bannon’s assertion that convicted far-right activist and Islamophobe Tommy Robinson was a ‘hero’.

Zara explained: “These acts are not limited to this week. In recent months, prospective Conservative Party parliamentary candidate and newspaper columnist Nick Timothy has openly advocated for Muslim discrimination by proposing punitive measures that limit religious freedoms and address far-right stereotypes about Muslims.

The MCB stated that in the same week that it was discovered that there had been a remarkable 335% increase in Islamophobic hate crimes, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman fueled hatred in her latest fiery piece for The Telegraph.

The MCB secretary general stated: “On the front page of a national newspaper, a former Home Secretary shamelessly peddled extremist tropes about so-called ‘Islamist’ takeovers.”

That this occurs on the same day that we learn of a sharp increase in Islamophobic hate crimes, with over 2000 cases reported in the last four months, is equally reprehensible.

Braverman’s awful post serves as Exhibit A for people looking into why Islamophobia is on the rise in the United Kingdom. Her inflammatory messages were also stated on the House of Commons floor.

“With a track record of demonising Muslim communities and peaceful Palestinian demonstrators, this is classic dog whistle tactics to divert attention away from the real challenges of the day. This is a time when communities must come together; her evil attempts to divide us will fail.”

She stated, “Influential MPs and a Conservative Party donor are endorsing common talking points that peddle conspiracy theories and Islamophobic tropes about alleged Muslim takeovers of our country.”

Sayeeda Warsi’s Call: Conservative Peer Urges Prime Minister to Address Islamophobia Directly

“The Party’s silence in the face of such extremism as we approach the Mayoral election mirrors the racist Zac Goldsmith campaign and demonstrates that the Conservative Party’s institutional Islamophobia remains unabated.

The Goldsmith campaign failed then; we are convinced this method will fail again. We encourage the Party to act swiftly and remove the whip from Mr Anderson.”

Sayeeda Warsi, a Conservative peer and cabinet minister in David Cameron’s ministry, told the Guardian on Sunday that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak needed to “find the language” to “call Islamophobia Islamophobia”.

“What is it about the prime minister that he cannot even condemn anti-Muslim racism and bigotry?” “Why can’t he just say those words?” She said.

Warsi stated: “There will always be people who hide behind the word Zionist, people with a long history of racism who use the term Zionist to refer to Jews. It’s a dishonest sort of antisemitism. And there are always people with a long history of anti-Muslim prejudice who will use the term “Islamist” to refer to Muslims.