TWENTY FIVE members of the Conservative party have been suspended for posting Islamophobic comments on social media.
They were suspended for posting racist comments on a pro-Jacob Rees-Mogg Facebook group. The posts were found by a Twitter account dedicated to "investigating institutional racism, Islamophobia and cover-ups in the Conservative Party".
A Conservative spokesperson said the members who have made inappropriate comments have been suspended pending further investigation. “We were aware of this matter, and action has been taken,” the spokesperson said.
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which has repeatedly called for an independent inquiry into Islamophobia within the party, described the revelations as “astonishing”.
“We’ve seen MPs, councillors and members engage in bigotry that should have no place in a modern Conservative Party,” a spokesperson for the MCB was quoted as saying by the Independent.
“Yet the constructive call by Muslim communities for an independent inquiry into the issue has been ignored again and again.”
Baroness Warsi, a former Conservative chair and the UK's first Muslim cabinet minister, has been calls for an inquiry into Islamophobia within the party.
"Years of raising Islamaphobia within my party had left me weary but the New Zealand mosque shooting tragically reminded me that this fight is essential and must go on," she said.
Earlier this month, Baroness Warsi accused prime minister Theresa May of “burying her head in the sand” over Islamophobia in the party.
“She doesn’t listen, she fails to acknowledge when there is a problem,” she said. “It’s probably symptomatic of the way in which her leadership has dealt with other matters.
“Burying your head in the sand is not going to make problems go away.”
Baroness Warsi said efforts to modernise the party had “gone into reverse” since May took office.
