UK Muslim body urges for probe into Tory Islamophobia

LONDON

Britain’s largest umbrella body of Muslim organizations has urged the country’s equality watchdog to formally investigate alleged Islamophobia within the leading Conservative Party.

“We have today written to the EHRC to formally request an investigation into whether the Conservative Party has breached its Equality Act obligations Islamophobia,” the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said on Twitter.

The MCB’s call for a probe came following the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said it has launched an investigation into whether the opposition Labour Party “unlawfully discriminated against, harassed or victimised people because they are Jewish".

“It is a sad day for us to have brought this complaint to the doors of the EHRC, but the concerns of Muslims at large about Islamophobia within the Conservative Party have fallen on deaf ears,” said Harun Khan, the secretary-general of the MCB.

“We have taken this step after an unprecedented number of cases have been brought to our attention, suggesting a culture within the Conservative party where Islamophobia is not only widespread, but institutional,” Khan said.

“We now request the EHRC to look at all the evidence and investigate this matter with great urgency,” he added.

The MCB previously wrote two letters to the Conservative leader and Prime Minister Theresa May to probe the Islamophobia allegations within her party.

Islamophobic incidents have risen significantly due to a number of factors, such as Brexit and the proliferation of far-right groups spreading misconceptions about immigration and faith.

The MCB has repeatedly urged the Conservative Party leadership to tackle the issue of Islamophobia within the party and investigate Tories accused of Islamophobia.

Islamophobic comments by Tory party members and councillors have been found online, with some calling for the bombing of mosques, and others making racist comments about London mayor Sadiq Khan and Tory Home Secretary Sajid Javid.

Last year, former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson compared women who wear Islamic garb to “bank robbers and letter boxes". His comments triggered a national outcry, but an internal Conservative investigation cleared him of wrongdoing.

The Labour and Liberal Democrats parties have adopted a working definition of Islamophobia by an all party parliamentary group (APPG) on British Muslims but failing to do the same, the Conservative party is facing growing calls to adopt it as well after failing to tackle rising Islamophobia within its ranks.

Labour MP Naz Shah earlier this month invited all parties to adopt the working definition of Islamophobia. She said the Conservative Party is “willing to orchestrate” to reject the definition of Islamophobia and it fails even to “acknowledge” it.

The APPG said in a report last year that British Muslims face higher levels of hate crime and gave a new definition for Islamophobia.

“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness,” the APPG definition said.

Official figures from the report found that the risk of being a victim of race hate crime was highest for Muslim adults at 1.7% compared to non-Muslim adults at 0.2%.

Islamophobia in the U.K. has spiked following the 2017 terror attacks in London and Manchester, according to Tell MAMA, a group recording anti-Muslim hate crime.