Conservative MPs have largely shrugged off warnings from party grandee Lady Warsi that the Tories are institutionally riven with Islamophobia, with one former minister claiming not to believe the problem is that big. The reaction comes despite the suspension of 14 party members for allegedly Islamophobic comments on a Facebook group supporting Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Rees-Mogg sought to deflect attention onto Labour, stating that Islamophobes have no place in the Tory party and that swift action had been taken, unlike the socialists. However, from much of the rest of the party there has been a deafening silence, with only chairman Brandon Lewis responding to Warsi on Twitter, accusing her of missing key facts about the party's clear process and swift action.
Mohammed Amin, chairman of the Conservative Muslim Forum, said he had been telling Lewis for a long time that more action was needed, but Conservative headquarters had made clear there would be no independent internal inquiry into anti-Muslim hatred. He described the party's approach to the Muslim community as having gone backwards, citing Zac Goldsmith's London mayoral campaign, Boris Johnson's comments about women in burkas, and Theresa May's post-Brexit attempt to woo Ukip voters.
Anna Soubry, former Tory MP and chair of the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims, said she had witnessed the leadership's unwillingness to grip the problems caused by a drift to the right. She stopped short of calling the party institutionally Islamophobic but noted there were too many examples of people with anti-Muslim views not being expelled. One Conservative Muslim parliamentarian, speaking anonymously, suggested the problem might be as widespread as Labour's antisemitism crisis, but more under the radar due to fewer activists and an older support base.
