Islamophobia is ‘deep-rooted’ in the Tory Party
A SENIOR Tory peer yesterday called for an independent inquiry into “institutional” Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.
Former minister Baroness Warsi said Theresa May had failed to act to stamp out the bigotry.
Warsi added: “We have a deep-rooted problem of anti-Muslim comments, Islamophobic comments, racist comments that have been made right from the top – from MPs through to councillors, council candidates, members, linked groups.”
Warsi’s claims came as Tory council candidate Peter Lamb quit after coming under fire for social media comments about Islam.
Fourteen members were suspended from the party over allegedly Islamophobic comments on the homepage of a Facebook group.
The Buzzfeed website carried details from the page – established by the self-styled “Jacob Rees-Mogg Supporters Group” – showing posts calling for the closure of all mosques and branding Muslim Home Secretary Sajid Javid a “Trojan horse”.
A party spokesman latest scandal, Lamb said: “I deeply regret my remarks on social media. At no point did I intend to cause any offence to the Muslim community.
“I have decided that I should step down as a local election candidate and resign (from) the Conservative Party.”
The Tory spokesman said the party had “acted swiftly” when they were told about discriminatory behaviour.
But Warsi rejected the claim that it was acting to address Islamophobia.
She said she had previously suggested an internal inquiry to deal with the issue but added: “I think it has now gone beyond that and we need an independent inquiry.”
Warsi, who was the first female Muslim Cabinet member, went on: “We cannot have a situation where a mainstream political party is sending out a message in the way it is acting that certain parts of our country, certain communities, certain citizens are simply not welcome in our party.”
She urged Tory chief executive Sir Mick Davis to act, claiming the Prime Minister and party chairman Brandon Lewis “have failed”.