Does the Conservative Party have an Islamophobia problem?

A new review into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party has blamed “turmoil” within the party for its slowness in cracking down on the issue. Professor Swaran Singh – who was first commissioned by the party to investigate the problem back in 2019, and reported in 2021 – has renewed his criticism, saying the Tories are taking “for ever” to take meaningful action.

How did this come about?

In the Conservative leadership election of 2019, Sajid Javid promised on live television to commission an “independent review” into Islamophobia within the party, and forced all the other candidates to agree to do the same. Boris Johnson won that contest, but was extremely slow to act on his promise, not least as he had made highly Islamophobic comments of his own earlier that year, in a Daily Telegraph column comparing Muslim women wearing face-coverings to “bank robbers” and “letterboxes”.

The first report was eventually published in 2021, and was branded a “whitewash” by former party chair Sayeeda Warsi, though it was highly critical of, among other things, Zac – now Lord – Goldsmith’s London mayoral campaign in 2016.

In an update to the report, Prof Singh has expressed frustration about how little has been done since it was published.

What did his report recommend?

The most significant recommendation was an overhauled complaints procedure to deal with allegations of Islamophobia and other forms of racism within the party. Prof Singh now says precious little has been done.

“The two years since the publication of the report have seen considerable political upheaval in the UK,” he writes in his new review. “In that time, the Conservative Party has had three leaders and seven chairs. This turmoil has impacted on the party’s efforts to implement our recommendations.

“Change took longer than expected, and challenges resulting from the interdependencies between recommendations contributed to delays in implementation.”

What more should have been done?

The new review states that between April and June 2022, there were 212 complaints to the Conservative Party relating to 137 incidents. Prof Singh draws particular attention to one case in which no action was taken for more than a year, during which time the complainant was subjected to further offending behaviour.

The current party chair Greg Hands has acknowledged there is “more work to be done.”

Does the Conservative Party have an Islamophobia problem?

Baroness Warsi has been claiming for several years that it does, and said that the original report in 2021 had “vindicated” her. The Conservatives have been quick in the past to criticise Labour for antisemitism, which Keir Starmer has made significant in-roads in tackling since taking over from Jeremy Corbyn. It appears that the Tories have yet to show the same commitment when it comes to Islamophobia. The party has not denied or disputed the central claim that it has been too slow to act.