Hawzah News Agency - (London - UK) - Tory chairman James Cleverly MP said today his party will hold an inquiry into Islamophobia — once it has agreed how to define anti-Muslim bigotry.
When asked by Sky News on Sunday if there would be a probe into the issue, Mr Cleverly said: “There will be, yes. There will be.”
But he added a caveat: “One of the things that we need to get is the definition of that and so, specifically on that point, we will guided by the formal definition of Islamophobia.”
Activists have been calling on the Tories to adopt the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims’ definition of Islamophobia, which identifies the scourge as “rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”
A spokesperson from the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said: “An inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party has been long awaited and will be welcomed if it is sufficiently independent and robust.
“Words must be followed by action. The record of the party has thus far been found wanting.
“A litmus test will be whether the party adopts the definition of Islamophobia as formulated by the [all-party group].
“It reflects the lived experiences of British Muslims who face everyday Islamophobia and it has support from a cross-section of Muslims, academics, political parties and councils.
“We hope this process does not sidestep the over-100 instances of Islamophobia identified by the [MCB] and Muslim members of the Conservative Party themselves.”
The MCB has also called on the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate Islamophobia in the Tory Party, but the watchdog is yet to launch a probe.
Former Tory chairwoman Baroness Sayeeda Warsi said on Twitter that it was “political hypocrisy” for the party to be debating the definition of Islamophobia after it criticised Labour’s discussion over the scope of anti-semitism.
One of Theresa May’s last acts as prime minister was to enlist a Leeds-based Imam, Qari Asim, to help the government agree on a definition.
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