The National Scot (creative commons)

Whatever the merits may have been in promoting Chief Whip Mark Spencer to the post of Leader of the House of Commons, the timing could hardly be more insidious.

Fresh from being self-identified in an alleged Islamophobic sneer at the heart of Government, Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, conveniently saw the opportunity to reward the alleged culprit in a mini-reshuffle within the matter of a couple of weeks after launching an investigation into accusations apparently against him. The response of the Prime Minister would have been different if the accusations were of anti-Semitism.

After initially refusing to get involved, Johnson ordered a formal inquiry last month into allegations that the first and only Muslim woman to be a Tory MP was sacked as a minister under his watch almost two years ago because of her religion. The accusations were made by Nusrat Ghani, who was given her post as Transport Minister under his predecessor, Theresa May. Although she chose not to name the culprits, Spencer subsequently identified himself but denied he had made Islamophobic allegations.

Muslimness was the word used by Ghani to express the apparent discomfort felt by her fellow Tory MPs towards her.
The phobia towards Muslims within the Tory Party is well-documented, given the number of cases evidenced, the summary way most are dismissed, and even its refusal to accept a working definition of the hatred and discrimination against followers of the second-largest religion in the UK, after Christianity.

As reported elsewhere in The Muslim News, one of the most detailed surveys conducted on Islamophobia has found that prejudice against Islam is more rooted in the middle classes and seems to correspond to how it is dealt with in public life. Lead author Stephen Jones even suggests that it is as if they are “more miseducated because that’s the way Islam is presented in our society.”

Apart from being economical with the truth, the Prime Minister is notoriously known for being reluctant to admit anything, especially his mistakes, often giving the impression of being unaccountable. Deliberate or not, contemptible or not, the promotion of Spencer is unacceptable. It sends the wrong signal about an apparent disdain felt towards Muslims that offences against them do not matter.

Experience had lowered expectations for any inquiry into Islamophobia but sinking them further still with the promotion of a suspected Islamophobe even before the inevitable whitewash, is inexcusable,