Tuesday, November 08, 2022
More Islamophobia in the Tory Party
The Independent reports that the Conservative Party is facing renewed accusations it is failing to tackle Islamophobia – both in society and within its own ranks. Recent figures show anti-Muslim hate crimes are on the rise in the UK, while an investigation into alleged Islamophobia by a Tory MP continues.
Conservative Party Chair, Nadhim Zahawi has been urged to use Islamophobia Awareness Month to implement the recommendations of the Singh Investigation into Islamaphobia within his party in full, confirm whether the government will adopt the APPG’s definition of it and end the party’s “bizarre practice of refusing to use the term”:
Government figures show religious hate crimes targeting Muslims in the UK rose by 28 per cent in the last year, accounting for 42 per cent of all recorded religious hate crimes in 2021/22.
Muslims have also formed the highest proportion of victims of religiously motivated hate crimes for each of the past five years.
Last week The Independent revealed the government has dropped work on an official definition of Islamophobia that was promised more than three years ago.
An adviser was appointed but work stopped after Boris Johnson became prime minister, and current communities secretary Michael Gove opposes the establishment of a definition.
Mr Gove, reappointed as the levelling-up secretary by Mr Sunak, previously said he wanted to target “political Islam”, which he called a “virus”.
He denied being an Islamophobe and said there was “resistance” in Whitehall because of a “desire not to cause offence”.
An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on British Muslims defined Islamophobia in 2018 as a “type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness”, which was accepted by Labour and other opposition parties but rejected by the Conservative government.
Imam Qari Asim, appointed to draw up the wording, said earlier this year the government “had not engaged with him at all and had completely failed to undertake any steps to facilitate the work of establishing a new definition in the last three years”.
In February an investigation was launched into Mark Spencer, Tory MP for Sherwood, following a complaint from a member of his own party.
Tory MP for Wealden, Nusrat Ghani, claims she was told she was sacked from her ministerial post because her Muslim faith was “making colleagues uncomfortable”.
While Mr Spencer, appointed as a farming minister by the prime minister in September, admits he spoke to her, he strongly denied using the words and described Ms Ghani’s claims as “defamatory”.
Last month cabinet secretary Simon Case said the probe remains “outstanding”.
This is something both the government and the Tory party need to sort out urgently. We are a multi-cultural, multi-faith society and we should not allow hatred and prejudice to undermine that.
Conservative Party Chair, Nadhim Zahawi has been urged to use Islamophobia Awareness Month to implement the recommendations of the Singh Investigation into Islamaphobia within his party in full, confirm whether the government will adopt the APPG’s definition of it and end the party’s “bizarre practice of refusing to use the term”:
Government figures show religious hate crimes targeting Muslims in the UK rose by 28 per cent in the last year, accounting for 42 per cent of all recorded religious hate crimes in 2021/22.
Muslims have also formed the highest proportion of victims of religiously motivated hate crimes for each of the past five years.
Last week The Independent revealed the government has dropped work on an official definition of Islamophobia that was promised more than three years ago.
An adviser was appointed but work stopped after Boris Johnson became prime minister, and current communities secretary Michael Gove opposes the establishment of a definition.
Mr Gove, reappointed as the levelling-up secretary by Mr Sunak, previously said he wanted to target “political Islam”, which he called a “virus”.
He denied being an Islamophobe and said there was “resistance” in Whitehall because of a “desire not to cause offence”.
An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on British Muslims defined Islamophobia in 2018 as a “type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness”, which was accepted by Labour and other opposition parties but rejected by the Conservative government.
Imam Qari Asim, appointed to draw up the wording, said earlier this year the government “had not engaged with him at all and had completely failed to undertake any steps to facilitate the work of establishing a new definition in the last three years”.
In February an investigation was launched into Mark Spencer, Tory MP for Sherwood, following a complaint from a member of his own party.
Tory MP for Wealden, Nusrat Ghani, claims she was told she was sacked from her ministerial post because her Muslim faith was “making colleagues uncomfortable”.
While Mr Spencer, appointed as a farming minister by the prime minister in September, admits he spoke to her, he strongly denied using the words and described Ms Ghani’s claims as “defamatory”.
Last month cabinet secretary Simon Case said the probe remains “outstanding”.
This is something both the government and the Tory party need to sort out urgently. We are a multi-cultural, multi-faith society and we should not allow hatred and prejudice to undermine that.
