THE Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has called on the UK’s human rights watchdog to launch an inquiry into Islamophobia in the Tory Party.
A 20-page complaint was sent to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on Tuesday detailing some of the abuse and prejudice being meted out by Tory members.
The row came as James Cleverly became the 11th person to enter the increasingly toxic race to replace Theresa May.
In their complaint, the MCB said the “problem of Islamophobia runs deep into the party with a large number of representatives of the party and members of the party who have engaged in Islamophobia”.
They also criticised the party’s complaints process, saying those in charge of it “demonstrated a callous attitude to complaints, misleading members and the public with limited (if any) transparency”.
Harun Rashid Khan, the secretary general of the MCB, said: “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.
“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. We now request the EHRC to look at all the evidence and investigate this matter with great urgency.”
In recent years, the party has moved to suspend dozens of members and elected representatives posting Islamophobic comments on social media, but they have been accused of covering up the scale of the problem in the party.
A dossier, leaked to ITV, revealed that the party was dealing with more than 100 alleged cases.
The broadcaster said 19 of the 110 cases had not previously been made public. They reportedly include allegations that Tory members have called Islam a “cult” which is being allowed to “take over our country”, as well as calling the Muslim population an “infestation” whose members cause “mayhem wherever they decide to invade”.
Sayeeda Warsi, a former Tory minister and former chair of the party, said the dossier showed the Tories had “something to hide”.
She said: “Last month, I spent four weeks speaking to the party privately and started by asking them to bring to the table the number of complaints received, and said I would bring the number of complaints I had received, to try to understand the scale of the problem.
“The fact that the party refused to do that, and the fact that we have these revelations today that this issue is widespread and deep, clearly shows that the party has got something to hide.”
An EHRC spokeswoman said they were considering the MCB’s request.
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