Anisa Mahmood
The Conservative Government’s failure to tackle Islamophobia has, once again, made headlines after the long-awaited report into Nusrat Ghani’s allegations was finally published on April 6.
The Independent Adviser on Minister’s Interests delivered a report on allegations made by Ghani MP that she was told that her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable” when she was sacked from the Government in 2020.
The report found that Ghani’s evidence was credible and consistent, while Mark Spencer, the minister alleged to have made those remarks, was criticised for incorrectly stating that Ghani’s concerns were addressed within the whitewashed Singh Report into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.
After all the denials, Mark Spencer was found to have misled the former Prime Minister and the public but was still considered fit to be a minister by Rishi Sunak.
The report was published shortly after a Conservative council candidate in Bolton was removed from the party over claims he made grossly offensive Islamophobic comments on social media. Derek Bullock was re-selected to stand for a seat on Bolton Council despite having previously been suspended.
These constant scandals only underline the extent of the Conservatives’ problem with Islamophobia and the continued weakness of multiple Conservative Prime Ministers in dealing with it.
This is the party that has still not adopted a definition of Islamophobia and whose own investigation into institutional Islamophobia failed to consult a single Muslim member. We are a far cry from the “professionalism, integrity, and accountability” promised by Rishi Sunak on the steps of No. 10.
The Conservatives have refused to adopt the APPG on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia, refused to develop their own definition, and many leading Conservatives refuse to even use the term “Islamophobia”.
Levelling-up Secretary of State Michael Gove insists that anti-Muslim hatred is a better term to describe this issue. He also claims that the Government set up the Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group, which, after thorough research, has been found to have only met once during the pandemic.
After promising two advisors on anti-Muslim hatred, only one was appointed, Qari Asim, who was sacked in June 2022, and his post is still vacant.
The governing party’s denial of its own Islamophobia problem and failure to take any action over the past four years does not instil confidence within the British Muslim community.
In the face of this epidemic of violence and hatred in our society, the Conservative government appears to be, at worst, in denial about the problem and, at best, shockingly complacent.
Can the Conservative Party demonstrate that it is capable of understanding the scale of the problem it faces? A start would be to adopt a definition of Islamophobia and engage with the British Muslim community.
The time for excuses is over. Rishi Sunak needs to get a grip on his party and show he can deal with the toxic Islamophobia within the Conservative Party.
Anisa Mahmood is a senior Labour Party policy researcher and advisor. She helps develop the Labour’s anti-Islamophobia policy, organises the annual Islamophobia Awareness Month campaign in Parliament, and in 2021 successfully secured the first-ever Parliamentary debate on the subject.
She also sits on the executive committee of the New Diplomacy Project, which develops the Labour Party’s foreign policy.
(Photo credit: PosterMyWall)
