Tag: Muslim Council of Britain

Boris Johnson has been accused of “dog whistle” Islamophobia by a former Conservative chair after he compared Muslim women in burqas to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers.” Lady Sayeeda Warsi said the lack of action by the party over Johnson’s comments showed it was “business as usual.” Labour demanded that the Conservative chair, Brandon Lewis, refer the former foreign secretary for mandatory equalities training, amid renewed calls for the party to open an independent investigation into Islamophobia in the party. In a letter to Lewis, the shadow equalities minister, Naz Shah, said Johnson’s comments were “ugly and naked Islamophobia” and said Lewis should abide by his word to give Tory members diversity training to combat Islamophobia. Show me more about this topic of 2 View on Scribd Back to document More From The Guardian Skip carousel carousel previouscarousel next Draft Letter to Margarita Simyonan uploaded by The Guardian Jalil Muntaqim's Foia documents uploaded by The Guardian Prime minister Theresa May's reply uploaded by The Guardian Navient letter uploaded by The Guardian Chequers Statement from HM Government uploaded by The Guardian Letter written by Fariborz uploaded by The Guardian David Davis resignation uploaded by The Guardian Cease and Desist Letter uploaded by The Guardian Scotus cake ruling uploaded by The Guardian Draft Letter to Margarita Simyonan uploaded by The Guardian Green party report on incineration and recycling uploaded by The Guardian Letter From Lord Sheikh uploaded by The Guardian Sekulow Contract uploaded by The Guardian Albert Woodfox letter uploaded by The Guardian Sallie Mae condolences response uploaded by The Guardian Letter by Cambridge University ethics panel uploaded by The Guardian Vic Govt Social and Economic Impacts of the Basin Plan in Victoria by DC&A and Frontier Economics uploaded by The Guardian 090518 Letter to Tehan - Assurance of Support.pdf uploaded by The Guardian Letter_from_the_UK_National_Security_Adviser_to_the_NATO_Secretary_General_regarding_the_Salisbury_incident.pdf uploaded by The Guardian Korea peninsula uploaded by The Guardian Freedom Foundation Letter uploaded by The Guardian Amber Rudd Resignation Letter uploaded by The Guardian RMCG Basin Plan Impact on Golbourn-Murray Irrigation District October 2016 uploaded by The Guardian Submissions in relation to Woodland Groups for Critically Endangered Listing uploaded by The Guardian Windrush letter uploaded by The Guardian Letter from Amber Rudd to Theresa May uploaded by The Guardian SPN on Teachers Strikes uploaded by The Guardian Letter to the Nato secretary general uploaded by The Guardian Measuring wool's footprint uploaded by The Guardian Royal wedding uploaded by The Guardian The party was also criticised by the Finsbury Park mosque imam, who was praised for his heroism during the terror attack last year. Johnson said he did not agree with a ban on the face veil, but compared Muslim women in burqas to bank robbers and rebellious teenagers. “If no action is taken against Mr Johnson – for example, at the very least requiring him to attend a course of training and engagement with the Islamic community – what faith can Muslim people have in your public statements?” she wrote. Warsi, who has previously called for an inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative party after it was raised by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), tweeted that the comments were “dog whistle” from Johnson. Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) “Tories are in denial on Islamophobia- says the hero praised around the world for his brave & compassionate response to the murderous attack in #FinsburyPark” @standardnews Meanwhile @Conservatives its business as usual with #Boris #Burkha dog whistle ?https://t.co/KXFl3GtgEo August 6, 2018 The Finsbury Park imam, Mohammed Mahmoud, said there was a general lack of engagement with the Muslim community from ministers. Writing for the Evening Standard on the anniversary of the van attack that killed one worshipper and injured 12 others, he said: “Despite the rising scale and severity of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred, the response from the government has been lacklustre, or worse, in denial.” Other Labour MPs condemned Johnson. David Lammy called him a “pound-shop Donald Trump” and accused him of “fanning the flames of Islamophobia” for political advantage. In his column, Johnson said schools and universities should be entitled to tell students to remove a veil if a student “turns up … looking like a bank robber”.

The Conservatives have been accused of failing to take the issue of Islamophobia seriously by the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which is calling for an independent inquiry into a problem it said had “poisoned” sections of the party. Sayeeda Warsi, the party’s former chair, said she had spent more than two years trying and failing to get her successors and Theresa May to engage with the problem, and warned that the Tories faced a wider institutional problem of Islamophobia. 'He inferred I wasn't British': Tory members tell of Islamophobia Read more Labour, which has faced its own recent controversy over antisemitism, said the Conservatives had shown a “systematic leadership failure” on the issue. Khan questioned why no action had been taken against Bob Blackman, the Harrow East MP, after he re-tweeted an anti-Islam message from the hard-right activist Tommy Robinson, and hosted a hardline Hindu nationalist, Tapan Ghosh, in parliament. Blackman said he accidentally re-tweeted the Robinson post and had not known in advance that Ghosh was being invited to last October’s event. MCB (@MuslimCouncil) We are calling for an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party following more than weekly occurrences of Islamophobia in the party last month pic.twitter.com/ymkFRDs5sF May 30, 2018 Warsi, now a Tory peer, said she backed the MCB’s call, adding that it was “a shame” that it could potentially require such a public rebuke for the Conservatives to start treating the subject with proper seriousness. “What I would like to see is, first of all, people within the party stopping denying this is an issue and then starting to acknowledge the extent of the issue, and then setting out a clear pathway of how we’re going to deal with it,” she told Sky News. The MCB letter also cited Goldsmith’s campaign as evidence of a wider problem in the Conservatives with “dog whistle anti-Muslim racism”. If the people who claim to be leading this country are shirking their responsibility to protect all the communities living here, it sends an appalling message. A number of Muslim Conservative party members told the Guardian that they felt the issue had been marginalised, with one saying his reaction to the MCB letter was: “How refreshing - this is something that all Muslim Conservatives are feeling.” Khan’s letter to Lewis called for an independent inquiry into Islamophobia among not just Tory members but also the party’s structures and campaigns.