The UK ruling Conservative Party is in the Islamophobia row after it emerged that a number of party activities have been suspended for posting and endorsing anti-Islam material online.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) investigation highlighted over 20 new cases to the party, who said all those found to be members who shared or supported anti-Muslim posts on Twitter and Facebook were suspended immediately. However independent sources confirmed that the numbers of party member who are under investigation for openly expressing anti- Islamic views are more than reported.
The BBC was alerted to details of the new cases by an anonymous Twitter user, and independently verified each one before passing details to the Conservative Party. The incidents ranged from individuals “liking” anti-Muslim pictures or statements on one or two occasions, to regular Islamophobic posts by people who said they were members of the Tory party. Among the content that has been shared on social media, a Conservative Councillor responded to a tweet in March, writing: “Islam and slavery are partners in crime.” When contacted, he said the BBC was misrepresenting his views and he did not judge people by their race or religion.
The BBC pointed an independent village councillor, who stated he had worked on Boris Johnson’s 2012 Mayoral campaign, posted: “Islam is THE religion of hate (sic)” and “Muslims hate = free speech (sic). When contacted, he told the BBC he was an atheist who was equally critical of Christianity and all other religions, and he found it annoying Islam was held aloft and critics of it were branded racist. Other incidents included individuals posting comments such as “Muslim scum” and “I don’t want Muslims in this country”. Last year, the party ex- chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi accused her party of political hypocrisy. She called on the Conservatives to launch a “full independent inquiry” into Islamophobia in the party and warned the Tories were pursuing a politically damaging policy of denial about the problem in its own ranks.
