Category: #ToryIslamophobia

#ToryIslamophobia

Nearly half of Tory members would not want Muslim PM – poll

From The Guardian: Nearly half of Conservative Party members would prefer not to have a Muslim prime minister, a survey into the scale of Islamophobia in the party has suggested.

The poll, carried out by YouGov for the anti-racism group Hope Not Hate, also found that more than two-thirds of Tory members believe the myth that parts of the UK are under Sharia law, and 45% think some areas are not safe for non-Muslims.

Half of the party’s members think that Islamophobia is a big issue, but only 8% believe it is a problem within the party, the survey found.

In the online survey of 864 Conservative members, 39% said they agreed that “Islamist terrorists reflect a widespread hostility to Britain amongst the Muslim community”, and 40% think there should be a reduction in the number of Muslims entering Britain.

[Read full article on Guardian website…]

Sadiq Khan to accuse Tory hopefuls of ‘aping’ language of far right

From The Guardian: Sadiq Khan will accuse Conservative leadership candidates of being willing to “ape and adopt” the language of the far right for short-term political gain, warning that ignoring Islamophobia could have consequences like the New Zealand mosques massacre.

Speaking at a dinner for Muslim leaders hosted by the Muslim Council of Britain on Tuesday night, Khan will call Tory leadership hopefuls “utterly shameful” for the party’s approach to Islamophobia and their failure to speak out against Donald Trump, saying anyone who wants to become prime minister must “get on the right side of history”.

The London mayor will say: “As we saw with the Christchurch massacre, this kind of deeply irresponsible behaviour and language has lethal consequences. Because when senior politicians use anti-Muslim language with impunity, and are even rewarded with a promotion, it only encourages those who seek to spread hate and sow division.”

[Read full article on Guardian website…]

Conservative Party Islamophobia must be investigated by equality watchdog, Britain’s largest Muslim group demands

From The Independent: Britain’s largest Muslim organisation has called for a formal investigation into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) sent more than 20 pages of evidence to the Equality and Human Rights Commission in the wake of the government’s refusal to adopt a proposed definition on Islamophobia.

[Read article on Independent website…]

Conservatives condemned by Muslim Council of Britain after party rules Boris Johnson burqa comments were ‘respectful’

From The Independent: The Conservatives have been accused of “giving a license to bigotry” by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) after the party ruled Boris Johnson’s comments on Muslim women wearing burqas were “respectful and tolerant”.

[Read article on Independent website…]

Conservatives condemned by British Jewish leaders after MEPs vote to defend Hungary’s far-right Orban government

From The Independent: The Board of Deputies of British Jews said it was “very concerning” that the Conservatives had chosen to defend Hungary’s “appalling track record” which they pointed out included both “vivid antisemitism” and islamophobia.

[Read article on Independent website…]

Increase in abuse directed at women wearing the niqab or hijab after Boris Johnson comments

From The Independent: The Tell Mama project, which monitors anti-Muslim violence, has reported an increase in incidents of abuse aimed at women wearing the niqab or hijab over the past week [since Boris Johnson‘s derogatory comments].

[Read article on Independent website…]

The online ‘home’ of the Tory Party is a hotbed of Islamophobia

From Vice: A high profile Conservative Party grassroots activist forum is littered with Islamophobic comments.

Blog posts about the Tory Islamophobia scandal on the ConservativeHome website received comments which compared the burka to “SS uniforms” and talked of the need to discuss “how to eradicate the cancer” of “Islam and Middle Eastern cultures”. One commenter said Muslims should be “explaining and justifying what their faith has to offer civilised society”, while another seemed to threaten Muslims.

Commenters came up with more offensive epithets for burqa wearers, with one saying they are “going about looking like Guinness bottles or Darth Vader”. A fair few commenters were worried about wearers of the burqa having vitamin D deficiency.

ConservativeHome calls itself “the home of conservatism” and is popular among the Tory grassroots. It publishes a number of high profile Conservative commentators and hosts events at the Conservative Party conference. In 2016, Theresa May attended the ConservativeHome conference party.

[Read full article on Vice…]

Boris Johnson’s burqa comments bolster his grassroots Conservative support

From The Guardian: Boris Johnson’s support among grassroots Conservatives, already resurgent in the wake of his resignation over Brexit, appears to have been bolstered further by his claim that Muslim women in burqas resemble letterboxes and bank robbers.

Tory activists have claimed that party members admire the former foreign secretary’s “straight talking” on the controversial issue and suggested his words implied he had listened to some of their concerns about community integration.

One senior grassroots activist said the membership was unlikely to be offended by his choice of language. “I doubt it. They’ll know what Boris is doing. They know how he operates – and they like it. The grassroots talk straight and polishing everything with Westminster-speak is not the way they do it. It won’t do him any harm.”

[Read full article on Guardian website…]  Below: Guardian cartoon by Martin Rowson

#BorisTheClown: Boris Johnson’s support among grassroots Conservatives, already resurgent in the wake of his resignation…

Posted by Stop The Tories Channel on Friday, August 10, 2018

Tories are in denial on Islamophobia, says hero imam

From London Evening Standard: The imam hailed for his heroism in the Finsbury Park terror attack today condemns the Government’s “lacklustre” efforts to fight Islamophobia. Mohammed Mahmoud accuses ministers of failing to show “meaningful engagement” with the Muslim community that is feeling increasingly “vulnerable”.

[Read article on Evening Standard website…]

Sayeeda Warsi calls for inquiry into Islamophobia within Tory party

From The Guardian: Sayeeda Warsi has called on the Conservatives to launch a “full independent inquiry” into Islamophobia in the party and warned the Tories were pursuing a politically damaging policy of denial about the problem in its own ranks.

The former Conservative party chair accused incumbent Brandon Lewis of a “woefully inept” response to recent complaints and added that MP Zac Goldsmith should receive “mandatory diversity training” following his unsuccessful attempt to beat Sadiq Khan to the London mayoralty.

Writing for the Guardian, Lady Warsi said: “I’ve been warning my party of its ‘Muslim problem’ for far too long,” and said that elite indifference to the issue meant the Tories were stuck with a political strategy that amounted little more than “fuck the Muslims”.

Read more

Muslim group accuses Tories of turning blind eye to Islamophobia claims

From The Guardian: The Muslim Council of Britain has accused the Conservative party of hoping allegations of Islamophobia in its ranks will “magically go away” and complained that the party’s chairman has not responded to its call for an internal inquiry.

Three weeks after it first raised the issue, the group wrote again to Brandon Lewis on Tuesday highlighting further allegations of anti-Muslim prejudice within Tory ranks. It said it was not acceptable to turn “a blind eye to legitimate concerns about bigotry”.

The MCB said further examples of alleged Islamophobic abuse had emerged, including the former party chair Sayeeda Warsi saying she had been racially abused at meetings, and a pro-Tory Facebook group that contained a string of anti-Muslim threats.

[Read full article on Guardian website…]

“As a Muslim member of the Tory party, I saw Islamophobia firsthand”

Shazia Awan-Scully writes in the New Statesman: “There is a problem in the Conservative Party – and not just the trials of Brexit. It is the contempt many at both the grassroots and elected levels show towards Islam.

“…The Conservative Party and many within it seem to have a notion that Islam is not compatible with British values and therefore not compatible with the Conservative 1Party.

“…I realised was I could not pursue the values of openness, tolerance and inclusivity that are dear to me whilst a member of the Conservative Party. I’m proud to say I joined Welsh Labour earlier this year.”

[Read full column on the New Statesman website…]

Conservatives must launch urgent inquiry into Islamophobia in the party, Muslim Council of Britain demands

From The Independent: The Muslim Council of Britain has written to the Conservative Party calling for an urgent inquiry following “more than weekly occurrences of Islamophobia from candidates and representatives of the party”.

[Read article on Independent website…]

Anti-Muslim post retweeted by Tory MP Bob Blackman

From The Times: Conservative MP Bob Blackman, who hosted an anti-Muslim extremist in parliament last week, has been accused of “condoning extremism” after it emerged he previously retweeted a Twitter message by the far-right leader Tommy Robinson.

[Read article on The Times website…] (paywalled, but free registration allows access to one article per month)