Genocide: Massacres, torture, expulsion: Other incidents: Allegations of Islamophobia in the UK Conservative Party have been made, including against senior politicians, such as Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Zac Goldsmith.
Perhaps she's forgotten that when they were part of the mojahedin, she was one of the Taliban's best international champions" and Gurbux Singh, chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality, urged Thatcher to "speak with care and dignity", adding "Those who criticise the response of Muslim leaders are either unaware of the strength of their condemnation or have been misled by the media exposure given to one or two extremists.
"[6] Conservative politician Michael Gove's 2006 book on the supposed roots of Islamist extremism, Celsius 7/7, was criticised when it was published for "holding apparent hostile opinions towards Muslims", according to Richard Vaughan in the i.
However, the decision to use 'Anti-Muslim Hate', rather than 'Islamophobia' for the Working Group was in response to a report by the Quilliam Foundation, who said that Islamophobia had been exploited by "Islamists and Wahhabis", and using such a term would be a "propaganda coup" to these individuals.
[5] In 2012, Lynton Crosby was reported as saying that Boris Johnson's mayoral campaign should not get try to gain support from "fucking Muslims", instead focusing on wavering voters in the outer suburbs.
[10] Concerns were first raised that Goldsmith's campaign was attempting to divide communities after flyers targeting Hindu voters suggested Khan would implement a tax on jewellery.
[10][13] Warsi said Goldsmith should receive "mandatory diversity training" following his comments,[14] and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said the campaign was an example of Tory "dog whistle anti-Muslim racism".
[18] Patrick Wintour said in The Guardian that "it is clear one target [of Cameron's reproach] is the Muslim Council of Britain ... His remarks suggest that a Home Office-led review into the government Prevent programme, being overseen by Lord Carlile, is going to lead to major changes.
It also suggests that he has sided unambiguously with figures such as Michael Gove inside his cabinet rather than his party chairman, Lady Warsi, who has complained of fashionable Islamophobia.
In October 2018, recently selected London Mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey was accused of Islamophobia and Hinduphobia after it was reported that had written a pamphlet in 2005, entitled No Man’s Land, for the Centre for Policy Studies.
[22] That same month, Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the House of Commons, was criticised from both sides of the aisle after suggesting that addressing abuse in Britain against British Muslims was a matter for the Foreign Office.
[23] Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson was criticised for his comments in an appendix added to a later edition of his 2005 book about the Roman empire, The Dream of Rome, which said that Islam caused the Muslim world to be "literally centuries behind" the west.
[24] Writing in a column in The Daily Telegraph in August 2018, Johnson made comments about Islamic full-face coverings (i.e. the burqa and the niqab) while criticising Denmark's decision to ban anyone from wearing a "garment that hides the face" in public places.
[25] The MCB accused Johnson of "pandering to the far right" saying the comments were "particularly regrettable in this current climate, where Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred is becoming worryingly pervasive".
[27] Writing for Vox, Jennifer Williams linked Johnson's comments with wider anti-Muslim sentiment across Europe,[25] and research by Tell MAMA in 2019 revealed that Islamophobic incidents increased 375% following the article's publication.
[29] In December, an independent panel led by Naomi Ellenbogen QC found that Johnson's use of language could be considered provocative but was not contrary to the party rules, which did not "override an individual’s right to freedom of expression".
Conservative sources told The Independent that the opposition to the vote was to gain "brownie points" from Orban's regime to make him more amenable to a post-Brexit trade deal.
[31] The Board of Deputies of British Jews accused the Conservative government of defending Hungary's "appalling track record" of "vivid antisemitism" and Islamophobia, saying: "we are very alarmed by the messages at the heart of Orban's election campaign, including his comments about 'Muslim invaders', calling migrants poison, and the vivid antisemitism in the relentless campaign against Jewish philanthropist George Soros".
[38] Leader of the Conservative group in North Lanarkshire Council, Stephen Goldsack, was reported to a watchdog following alleged Islamophobia in his comments regarding a planning application for a mosque.
[39][40] In 2018, Conservative activist and former candidate Kishan Devani joined the Liberal Democrats in response to an "uncomfortable lurch to the right" in the party which caused the Islamophobia scandal.
[46] Len Milner and Chris Smith of the East Staffordshire council also quit the party in March after they liked a cartoon on Facebook which depicted a mock beheading of London mayor Sadiq Khan.
[53] Justice Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said the allegations were serious and called on Ghani to make a formal complaint in order to allow an investigation to take place.
He hosted events attended by Hindu nationalist Tapan Ghosh noted for what Labour MP Naz Shah refers to as "abhorrent views" on Muslims.
"[43] Dismayed with the response of Lewis and May, in 2019 Warsi wrote to the party's chief executive, Mick Davis, urging him to "show leadership" on the issue.
Writing in the right-wing magazine, The Spectator she stated "As a Muslim woman observing Islam, I am fully supportive of Boris Johnson’s rejection of the niqab.
Maurice Cowling, a leading conservative intellectual of the Peterhouse School described Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses as "a nasty, sneering, free-thinking book ...