Tories accused of ‘sweeping Islamophobia under the carpet’ after quietly reinstating 15 suspended councillors
Party’s disciplinary process under intense scrutiny after refusal to publish information
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Conservative party has been accused of attempting to “sweep Islamophobia under the carpet” after quietly reinstating 15 councillors suspended over racist or prejudiced social media posts.
The party’s disciplinary process has now come under intense scrutiny as CCHQ refused to publish details of their investigations.
They argued selective cases did not provide a complete picture but after a spate of suspensions it has been found in the majority of cases where a councillor was reprimanded they were later readmitted to the party, according to The Guardian.
The Muslim Council of Britain, who have repeatedly called for an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, said this showed the Tories “cared more about public image than stopping racism”.
“There is little doubt that the party wants to sweep the issue of Islamophobia under the carpet,” an MCB spokesperson told The Independent.
“Together with the number of new cases in the past two weeks, the lack of action when many complaints are raised in private and the denial across the party, the position that there is no institutional problem is not tenable.”
The MCB added they had “no trust” the Conservatives wanted to tackle the issue.
“The party appears to care more about the public image than stopping racism have a hold in the party. At the very minimum they need to have an independent inquiry as there is no trust that the chair of the party has any willingness to commit to any action other than repeatedly issuing platitudes."
CCHQ has refused to publish details about their disciplinary process, arguing it was “rightly” confidential.
A Conservative spokesman said: “Discrimination or abuse of any kind is wrong. When CCHQ has been made aware of the small number of such cases we have acted swiftly, suspending members and launching immediate investigations, in sharp contrast to other parties.
“Our complaints process is rightly a confidential one but there are a wide range of sanctions to challenge and change behaviour, including conditions to undertake training, a period of suspension and expulsion, and these are applied on a case-by-case basis.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments