LONDON: Muslim members of Britain’s ruling Conservatives were deliberately excluded from an inquiry into Islamophobia within the party, a former Conservative member of the European Parliament (MEP) has said.
Sajjad Karim, who represented northwest England in the European Parliament for 15 years, described last week’s report which found no evidence of “institutional Islamophobia” as a “whitewash.”
He told The Guardian that he is concerned that the party will use “sleight of hand” tricks to escape implementing recommendations made by the inquiry.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, former co-chair of the Conservative Party, said: “The report concludes that from the top from the prime minister at one level to local associations at the bottom, there is an attitude issue and a problem and a behaviour issue in terms of Islamophobia.”
Tory Islamophobia: You can t find what you aren t looking for
middleeasteye.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from middleeasteye.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Editorial: Tory Islamophobia and Labour whips: the ruling class doesn t care about racism
morningstaronline.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from morningstaronline.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Conservatives apologise to victims ‘hurt by’ Islamophobia and racism in party Rob Merrick and Andrew Woodcock
Anti-Muslim sentiment ‘remains a problem’ in the Tory party, investigation finds
Replay Video
(Video by Press Association)
A report into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party has been branded a “whitewash” after it rejected claims of institutional racism and declined to pass judgement on whether Boris Johnson breached a code of conduct by comparing Muslim women in burqas to “letterboxes”.
Tory co-chair Amanda Milling issued an apology after the long-awaited probe branded the party’s complaint handling unfit for purpose and warned “anti-Muslim sentiment remains a problem”.
UK Inquiry Criticizes Conservatives , Boris Johnson s Islamophobic Remarks
Anti Muslim sentiment a problem for Tories, but Muslim members blast whitewash in failure to see systemic issue. An independent inquiry on Tuesday found that the UK s ruling Conservative Party is insensitive to Muslim communities across the country following Islamophobic remarks by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other party members.
The Singh Investigation, launched in 2019 by Johnson, was set up following allegations of ant-Muslim discrimination by members of the party, including Johnson.
The Conservatives were also accused of failing to address the issue of Islamophobia, but the report failed to confirm the claim of institutional racism, saying instead that anti-Muslim views were seen at a local level.