https://arab.news/58a97
- CMF deputy chair: ‘Is the party racist or Islamophobic? I would say no, from my heart. Individuals? Yes’
- PM fails to call comments by ex-deputy party chair, ex-home secretary Islamophobic
LONDON: The Conservative Muslim Forum has said it is seeking to meet with senior government figures as UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his party continue to battle ongoing allegations of Islamophobia.
It comes after the party’s former deputy party chair, Lee Anderson, was suspended by the Conservatives for remarks about Mayor of London Sadiq Khan last week, and an article by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman for the Daily Telegraph claimed that “the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge” of the UK.
Anderson refused to apologize for his claim that Islamists had “got control” of Khan and London.
Naveed Asghar, deputy chair of the CMF, told The Guardian: “Is the party racist or Islamophobic? I would say no, from my heart. Individuals? Yes. Are these people pandering to the vote base in their seats? I can’t see what’s going on.
“If he (Anderson) is doubling down on the comments, then the party should absolutely be having a word with him. I was hoping that the suspension would be enough.
“Any inflammatory remarks are just not acceptable, whether it’s people on the left making antisemitic comments or people on the right making anti-Muslim comments.”
On a visit to East Yorkshire on Monday, Sunak refused condemn Braverman’s article, saying: “I think that those comments were not about an individual in particular.”
He also stopped short of calling Anderson’s comments Islamophobic, saying: “I’ve been very clear that what he said was wrong, it was unacceptable, and that’s why we suspended (him).
“It’s important that everybody, but particularly elected politicians, are careful with their words and do not inflame tensions.”