Islamophobia a 'problem' in Britain's ruling party, finds investigation

Gulf Today Report

An independent investigation in Britain has conclued that Islamophobia within country’s uling Conservative Party is a problem both at an individual level and beyond but falls short of "institutional racism.”

The centre-right party has been dogged for years by accusations of anti-Muslim sentiment that have been levelled against members, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

"Anti-Muslim sentiment remains a problem within the party. This is damaging to the party, and alienates a significant section of society," the investigation led by Swaran Singh, a former commissioner at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, found.

Singh said he believed the report was "going to be very uncomfortable for the party,” adding he hoped it would "spur them into action".
The investigation said since 2015 the "bulk" of discrimination complaints had been made over anti-Muslim allegations.

Of 1,418 complaints relating to 727 incidents of alleged discrimination, more than two-thirds of the incidents - 496 cases - related to Islam.

While the report found "there were examples of anti-Muslim discrimination by individuals and groups at local association level," it said those problems fell short of claims of "institutional racism.”

The report said there was no evidence that complaints related to Islam are treated differently from those related to other forms of discrimination.

Johnson told Singh's probe he was "sorry for any offence taken" over his 2018 column and added he would not use "some of the offending language from my past writings" now that he was prime minister.

"I do know that offence has been taken at things I’ve said, that people expect a person in my position to get things right, but in journalism you need to use language freely. I am obviously sorry for any offence taken," the report quoted Johnson as saying.

"Would I use some of the offending language from my past writings today? Now that I am prime minister, I would not."

The report also considered accusations made by the campaign of 2016 Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith claiming his Muslim Labour rival Sadiq Khan associated with extremists.

Goldsmith told the investigation the accusations showed "poor judgement in the way his campaign was conducted" and he denied "harbouring anti-Muslim sentiments or using such sentiments for political advantage.”