Muhammad Mussa
10 April 2019•Update: 11 April 2019
LONDON
A senior government adviser has been sacked after repeatedly making Islamophobic and anti-Semitic remarks.
Roger Scruton, a right wing professor and former adviser at the Ministry of Housing, had said that Islamophobia was an issue invented by the Muslim Brotherhood which does not exist and claimed that the philanthropist George Soros had an empire in Hungary.
“Professor Sir Roger Scruton has been dismissed as chairman of the Building Better, Building Beautiful commission with immediate effect, following his unacceptable comments,” a ministry spokesman said.
Scruton, who is a longtime friend of Hungarian President Viktor Orban, said in an interview with the U.K.-based New Statesman magazine that “Hungarians were extremely alarmed by the sudden invasion of huge tribes of Muslims” and those who disagree with there being a “Soros empire”, of which Jews are a part of, in Hungary are factually incorrect.
These statements prompted the opposition Labour party to renew its earlier calls for him to resign following the racist statements.
A spokesperson for Downing Street has called the comments “deeply offensive” and that it was right for Scruton to have been sacked. The spokesperson also said that Scruton does not represent the government.
Dawn Butler, the shadow equalities secretary, termed Scruton’s comments as “despicable”, saying the remarks “invoke the language of white supremacists”.
“His claim that Islamophobia does not exist, a few weeks after the devastating attack in Christchurch, is extremely dangerous, and his defence of the prejudice stoked by Viktor Orbán’s government in Hungary is appalling,” Butler added.
Previously, the Muslim Council of Britain had said: “As the Conservative party faces its latest crisis on Islamophobia, it cannot continue with false promises to take the issue seriously whilst retaining people such as Mr Scruton as a government adviser.”
“The reality is that these concerns will continue to recur until trust is rebuilt through – in part – an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the party,” a spokesman for the council said.
The sacking of the right-wing professor has further increased pressure on the Conservative party to tackle issues surrounding Islamophobia and anti-Semitism within its ranks especially after they have routinely attacked the Labour party for supposedly being anti-Semitic.
Last month, 14 members of the Tory party were suspended after making abusive Islamophobic comments online. Senior figures and organizations have written to Theresa May demanding a full investigation and to address the issue of Islamophobia within the party.
