Wednesday, November 27, 2019
No apologies on anti-Semitism and Islamophobia
With Jeremy Corbyn being skewered by Andrew Neil on the BBC for failing to apologise over his party's abysmal record on anti-Semitism, attention naturally turned to the Conservative Party and their difficulties with Islamophobia. Unfortunately, senior Tory politicians are as much in denial on this issue as Corbyn is on his.
The Guardian reports that the Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid has refused seven times to condemn Boris Johnson’s use of the terms “bank robber” and “letterbox” to describe Muslim women who wear a burqa.
Johnson has refused to apologise for writing in a Telegraph column last year that Muslim women wearing burqas “look like letter boxes” and that it was “absolutely ridiculous” that anyone should choose to wear one.
As I have recorded a number of times on this blog, the Tory problem with Islam goes beyond the offensive example set by the Prime Minister. Earlier this month it was revealed that twenty-five sitting and former Conservative councillors have been exposed for posting Islamophobic and racist material on social media.
It is also the case that an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative party, promised by Boris Johnson if he won the leadership race, was downgraded to a “general investigation” into all types of prejudice. Even that appears to have been buried.
It is little wonder that people find it difficult to believe either Corbyn or Johnson when they claim that they are doing all they can to counter these issues within their respective parties.
The Guardian reports that the Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sajid Javid has refused seven times to condemn Boris Johnson’s use of the terms “bank robber” and “letterbox” to describe Muslim women who wear a burqa.
Johnson has refused to apologise for writing in a Telegraph column last year that Muslim women wearing burqas “look like letter boxes” and that it was “absolutely ridiculous” that anyone should choose to wear one.
As I have recorded a number of times on this blog, the Tory problem with Islam goes beyond the offensive example set by the Prime Minister. Earlier this month it was revealed that twenty-five sitting and former Conservative councillors have been exposed for posting Islamophobic and racist material on social media.
It is also the case that an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative party, promised by Boris Johnson if he won the leadership race, was downgraded to a “general investigation” into all types of prejudice. Even that appears to have been buried.
It is little wonder that people find it difficult to believe either Corbyn or Johnson when they claim that they are doing all they can to counter these issues within their respective parties.
