Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Tory Islamphobics target the Home Secretary
Just how deeply ingrained Islamphobia is in the Tories is revealed today by a story in the Guardian, alleging that the party have been dragged into fresh controversy after it emerged self-professed party members have been discussing how they could prevent Sajid Javid becoming prime minister.
They say that Tory supporters who claim to be members of the party have attacked the home secretary online for his Muslim background and pledged to back another candidate to prevent any potential leadership bid he might make:
The social media posts, reported by Buzzfeed News, prompted the chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum to call on the party to do more to promote inclusivity.
One man wrote on Facebook that he had joined the party to help install a Brexiter leader, adding of Javid: “Britain is not ready for a Muslim PM, that would be taking the absolute piss out of the country.”
A woman wrote that she was staying on as a Tory member “so that we can elect the right leader”, commenting that Javid “will protect his own. He was sworn in on the Koran.”
The comments made on Facebook by 20 the self-professed Tory party members are part of a batch unearthed by the anonymous @matesjacob Twitter account, which has been exposing Islamophobia.
Mohammed Amin, chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, branded the comments “outrageous”. He said: “The comments from these individuals are deplorable. There are people with bigoted views in all political parties. But a serious question that our party’s leadership needs to ask itself is, what is it about the Conservative party and the way that it’s projecting itself that leads people like these bigots to believe that they have a home within the Conservative party?
“Unfortunately, at the moment I don’t think it’s projecting as inclusive an image of Britain as we did, for example, under David Cameron. It needs to do much more.
These latest revelations come amid increasing warnings that the Conservative party is in the grips of a crisis over Islamophobia, with the former party chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi accusing Theresa May of “burying her head in the sand” over the issue.
This problem is as toxic for the Tory Party as anti-Semitism is for Labour. Both parties need to get a grip.
They say that Tory supporters who claim to be members of the party have attacked the home secretary online for his Muslim background and pledged to back another candidate to prevent any potential leadership bid he might make:
The social media posts, reported by Buzzfeed News, prompted the chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum to call on the party to do more to promote inclusivity.
One man wrote on Facebook that he had joined the party to help install a Brexiter leader, adding of Javid: “Britain is not ready for a Muslim PM, that would be taking the absolute piss out of the country.”
A woman wrote that she was staying on as a Tory member “so that we can elect the right leader”, commenting that Javid “will protect his own. He was sworn in on the Koran.”
The comments made on Facebook by 20 the self-professed Tory party members are part of a batch unearthed by the anonymous @matesjacob Twitter account, which has been exposing Islamophobia.
Mohammed Amin, chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, branded the comments “outrageous”. He said: “The comments from these individuals are deplorable. There are people with bigoted views in all political parties. But a serious question that our party’s leadership needs to ask itself is, what is it about the Conservative party and the way that it’s projecting itself that leads people like these bigots to believe that they have a home within the Conservative party?
“Unfortunately, at the moment I don’t think it’s projecting as inclusive an image of Britain as we did, for example, under David Cameron. It needs to do much more.
These latest revelations come amid increasing warnings that the Conservative party is in the grips of a crisis over Islamophobia, with the former party chairwoman Sayeeda Warsi accusing Theresa May of “burying her head in the sand” over the issue.
This problem is as toxic for the Tory Party as anti-Semitism is for Labour. Both parties need to get a grip.
