[ad_1]
Former Tory President Baroness Warsi said a report on Tory Islamophobia shows the party to be “institutionally racist” – despite findings indicating otherwise.
Baroness Warsi told Sky News political editor Beth Rigby in an exclusive interview: “I think the findings of this report clearly show that the Conservative Party is institutionally racist, based on the definition of what racism is. institutional.
“The way I see it – if it sounds like institutional racism, looks like institutional racism, fits the definition of institutional racism – then I’m afraid it’s institutional racism.”
Image: High-profile incidents involving Boris Johnson and Lord Goldsmith were highlighted in the report
Baroness Warsi, who campaigned for six years against Islamophobia in her party, said the independent report found examples of racism in party processes, attitudes and behavior, which “meet the definition of the party. institutional racism “.
She also said that while some of the recommendations “are good and should be implemented … I think we now need an independent investigation from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC ) because there are flaws in this report “party to the commission.
People who have complained of Islamophobic behavior called her to tell her that they had not had the opportunity to testify, she added.
Baroness Warsi also said she believed Boris Johnson “accepted that he was part of the problem and had been wrong in the past” and although her apologies for the comments on the women in the burqa were ” my bites “, she said” we can move on from this “.
The investigation was carried out by Professor Swaran Singh, former commissioner for equality and human rights, who considered that “anti-Muslim sentiment remains a problem within the party”, but that he does not there is “no evidence” that the party is institutionally racist.
Professor Singh examined 1,418 complaints relating to 727 separate incidents between 2015 and 2020, culminating in a 44,000 word report released on Tuesday.
He found that two-thirds of all complaints filed at Conservative headquarters concerned allegations of anti-Muslim discrimination.
June 2019 – Conservative rivals sign investigation into Islamophobia
The complaints included comments the Prime Minister made about women in burqas when he was a journalist and Lord Goldsmith’s campaign for mayor in London linking opponent Sadiq Khan to Islamic extremists.
The Muslim Council of Great Britain (MCB) welcomed Professor Singh’s report, but said it “does not recognize the root causes of this sectarianism” and also called on the EHRC to “determine whether violations of the law have taken place “.
Zara Mohammed, general secretary of MCB, said: “The investigation is mainly focused on form rather than substance. The procedure is important, but it must be underpinned by addressing the deep-seated issues of institutional racism. We hope this is the starting point. point of party self-reflection. “
Subscribe to the All Out Politics podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker
Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend) called the report “laundering”, saying it failed to address the “pervasive climate of Islamophobia throughout the party … instead of dismissing these issues. as simply giving the “impression” of Islamophobia – a conclusion that is little more than gas lighting “.
Former Chancellor Sajid Javid, who pledged to investigate Islamophobia in the 2019 Tory leadership elections, said the investigation revealed “distressing examples of anti-Muslim sentiments at the association level communities and individuals, as well as serious shortcomings in the party’s complaint process. .
Conservative co-chair Amanda Milling said the party accepted all of the recommendations set out in Professor Singh’s report.
“On behalf of the Conservative Party, I would like to apologize to anyone who has been hurt by the discriminatory behavior of others or who has failed our system,” she added.
“We conducted this investigation to respond to these allegations to ensure that any case of discrimination is isolated and to see how we can improve and strengthen our complaints process.
“The Conservative Party will continue to take a zero tolerance approach to all forms of discrimination and take immediate steps to improve our handling of complaints.
“It is clear that there have been deficiencies in our complaints process and we will begin to work on implementing the recommendations made by the investigation.”
[ad_2]
picture credit