A former Tory MEP claims the muslim members of the Conservative party were deliberately excluded from an inquiry into Islamophobia within its ranks.
Sajjad Karim, who represented north-west England in the European parliament for 15 years until 2019, said the report that came out last week and found no evidence of “institutional Islamophobia” was a “whitewash”.
He also urged Boris Johnson not to pursue an “English nationalist agenda”, and said the apologies from the prime minister for any offence caused seemed "insincere".
Karim feels Conservative central headquarters (CCHQ) will use “sleight of hand” to escape implementing the recommendations made by the Prof Swaran Singh's inquiry.
He along with other members have “no confidence left that the party internally is willing to actually deal with this issue”.
“We cannot just rely on internal processes to deliver a result,” Karim said while speaking to the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast. “That’s why I certainly take the view that it’s time for some sort of external light to be shone upon the internal workings of the Conservative party when it comes to these issues.”
Karim found Johnson's apology “for any offence taken” when he compared women wearing burqas to letterboxes in 2018, as “mealy mouthed” and “nothing but insulting”.
During the podcast Karim revealed of a “particular complaint” to the party officials before the inquiry began and was assured to be contacted, but he heard “absolutely nothing” from them.
He was later told by CCHQ “we’re very sorry, it’s too late for you to contribute to the inquiry – it was open to the public but now it’s closed”.
Karim said this was proof of a “very shabby attempt” to “skewer the findings” of the inquiry by trying to “make sure” only certain people gave evidence so that it progressed “in a certain direction”. “I’m not the only one that finds himself in this position,” he said. “There are many others who simply were excluded from the process. And I think quite intentionally.”
Kulsuma Aktergetty images