UK Conservative Party has “problem” with Islamophobia: Report | Boris Johnson News

According to an independent report, Islamophobia “remains a problem” despite claiming that it has a “zero tolerance” approach to discrimination within the UK Conservative Party.

Tuesday exam (PDF) According to Professor Swaran Singh, who has served as commissioner for the UK Equality and Human Rights Committee, most of the party’s discrimination is linked to racism against Muslims.

The party received 727 discriminatory incidents from early 2015 to the end of 2020, two-thirds of which reported Islamophobia.

The study was commissioned by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the face of criticism over discrimination and the handling of complaints.

“Given the complaints and findings of misconduct related to anti-Muslim words and behavior by the party itself, anti-Muslim sentiments remain a problem within the party,” Singh wrote in a 51-page report.

“This harms the party and alienates an important part of society.”

Singh said the Conservatives have not been active enough to tackle discrimination, adding that the grievance procedure needs to be reviewed.

The system of sanctions for those who broke the party’s rules was unclear, he said.

However, he also claimed that there was “no evidence” that allegations of Islamophobia were treated differently from other forms of discrimination.

The Conservative Party has said it is considering the report’s recommendations.

The British Muslim Council (MCB), the UK’s largest Muslim umbrella, said Singh’s report “while acknowledging that Islamophobia has been a serious problem for conservatives” did not accept “the root causes of this fanaticism”.

MCB Secretary General Zara Mohammed said: “Research is primarily concerned with form over form. It is an important procedure, but it should be encouraged by addressing deep issues of institutional racism.”

“We hope that’s the starting point for the party’s self-reflection.”

Former Conservative cabinet minister Sajid Javid denounced “horrific examples of anti-Muslim sentiments” in the report and called on his party to accept the recommendations “unconditionally”.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a Conservative member of the House of Representatives, said the report shows that the party “cannot at best and does not want to address the issue of racism at worst”.

Marsha de Cordova, the shadow equality minister in Labourd, called the study a “reprehensible accusation of discrimination in the Conservative Party”.

“It goes to the Prime Minister,” Johnson said, to ask for “a full and appropriate public apology acknowledging the pain and pain caused to the Muslim community”.

Johnson has been criticized

Singh highlighted the remarks made by prominent members of the party – including Johnson and Zac Goldsmith, a former MP and London mayoral candidate – as a problem.

Johnson wrote a notorious one newspaper column in 2018 in which he referred to the woman in a burqa (a full-body veil that also covers her face) as “walking around the look of mailboxes” and matching their appearance with “bank robbers.”

Johnson, who was a member of parliament when the editorial was published, defended the article as a liberal defense of the right to choose what a Muslim woman wore.

Johnson was interviewed for Singh’s investigation and gave a qualified apology for the crime caused by past remarks about Islam.

“I know it’s a crime in the things I’ve said, people expect a person in my situation to get things right, but you have to use language freely in journalism. Of course, I’m sorry for the crimes I’ve committed,” Johnson said in the report.

“Would I use any of the offensive language in my past writings today? When I am prime minister, I will not do it. “

In this regard, Singh wrote in his report: “Although it can be taken as an example, the research aims to emphasize that the use of measured and appropriate language should not only be a condition for the elderly, but should be expected throughout the Conservative Party.”

Meanwhile, Goldsmith was seen as successful in his 2016 mayoral election campaign, accusing his Muslim candidate of rival Sadiq Khan of “covering the ends”.

In addition, Khan said he “tried to silence questions about his connections.” [to extremists] shamelessly accusing him of being Islamophobic ”.

The two incidents involving Johnson and Goldsmith “give a lot to the party and its leadership being sensitive to the Muslim community,” Singh said.

Singh made several recommendations.

Within six weeks, the party should have an action plan on how to deal with the failures found in the report, and by November, it should publish a policy to find out how the allegations are handled.

Singh requested mandatory training on complaint processes for at least one member of each local party association.