House of Lords
Westminster
London
SWIA OPW.
Website: wwwlordsheikh.com
‘The Rt, Hon, Theresa May
‘The Prime Minister
10 Downing Street
London
SWIA 2AA
1 June 2018
Bea “Wnervesa
ISLAMAPHOBIA WITHIN THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY
You will no doubt be aware of the Muslim Council of Britain's (MCB)
letter of 31st May to the Chairman of the Conservative Party ~ the Rt. Hon
Brandon Lewis MP did set out several instances of conduct and statements,
by members of our Party which they labelled as Islamophobie and
requesting a full inquiry
| make no criticism of the MCB for making such a strong statement — itis
both factually correct and, a matter of grave concern to the many Muslim
members and supporters of the Party.
However, the contents of the MCB's letter comes as no surprise to me and
should not come as a surprise to the Party either. In view of the gravity of
the circumstances, I feel it necessary to write to you directly on the matter
and I would like to refer to the following issues,
2016 London Mayoral Election
As the Conservative party's candidate for Mayor of London Zac
Goldsmith's smear campaign against Sadiq Khan as a ‘terrorist
was an absolute disgrace, even for the most ardent
Conservative supporter ~ Muslim or not,
London
‘SWIAOPWSuch conduet not only embarrassed the Party, but alienated many
Conservative members from the campaign and, voters.
I raised these issues with Zac Goldsmith, CCHQ and David Cameron as
Prime Minister which I am sad to say, were ignored.
Bob Blackman hosting Tapan Ghosh in Parliament, October 2017
You will recall 1 wrote to you with deep concems on Tapan Ghosh’s
admittance to the UK, his invitation to Parliament to celebrate Diwali and
his subsequent appearance as guest speaker at an event titled “Tolerating the
Intolerant” hosted ky Bob Blackman MP (organised by British Board of
Hindu Scholars / National Couneil of Hindu Temples (UK).
1 did set out clear reasons why I believe Tapan Ghosh’s personal conduct
merits his exclusion under the 2006 Regulations as @ person who represents
a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the
fundamental interests of society”. It was my sincere request to you, as
Prime Minister to direct the Home Secretary to make an order banning
‘Tapan Ghosh from entering the UK in future.
I acknowledge and thank you for your reply. However, regrettably the
response fell short of the swift and determined action required.
Choice of Candidates for the last General Elect
On the 25* April 2017 1 and Mohammed Amin (Chairman of the
Conservative Forum- CME) jointly wrote a letter to Gareth Fox (Head of
Candidates) with a copy to Sir Patrick McLoughlin, recommending that
four very active Muslim members of the Conservative Party should be
considered as Candidates for the General Elections. The names of the
persons recommended were Attic Rahman, Dr Anwara Ali, Clir Hashim
Bhatti and Ash Zaman,
None of the abeve candidates were chosen which was a great
disappointment for us.
Party's relationship with Conservative Muslim Forum (CMF)
1 established CMF twelve years ago which did become a robust body. The
Forum was a conduit of dialogue and action between the Party and many
conservative voters.When I was Chairman of the CMF I had frequent meetings with
‘consecutive Party Chairman namely Francis Maude, Caroline Spelman and
Eric Pickles. These meetings were very useful and a dialogue was
‘maintained with us, These meetings for some reason were subsequently
terminated.
Tunderstand recently Mohammed Ali and Ash Zaman (Deputy Chairman of
CMP) asked the Party Chairman for a meeting. Brandon Lewis did meet
them on 8" February 2018 but I am told that no substantive or productive
action has been taken.
‘The Publie Perception
‘These instances aside, many other occasions have been cited by the
‘mainstream media and I annex a list to this letter.
‘The sheer number of media outlets interest inthis story should send a strong.
‘message to the Party, this is not something which can be ignored. With an
estimated 3 million Muslims in the UK (nearly half aged 25 or under) who
associate themselves as British, the Party cannot, nor can it be seen t0
riminate, We mist therefore acknowledge, the inadvertent and negative
public perception is serious issue.
As the Party who have formed the Government, there is a public interest to
tensute the elected executive of the day can and will take swift and decisive
action against all forms of discrimination. This is paramount if, as I know
‘we are, an open Party for all.
Just as we called on the Labour Party's leadership to tackle anti-Semitism,
which I support, the Conservative Party must now show we will not tolerate
any form of discrimination within our own Party. As a lifelong
Conservative, I know we as a Party are better than this.
Immediate steps the Party should take
I call on you as the Prime Minister to take the following two steps
immediately:
Firstly, set up an independent inquiry — we must investigate instances of
Islamophobie conduct and isolate them swifly.
‘We must also put in place clear and transparent measures which actively
prohibit all forms of discrimination whether religious, racial, or social. The
inquiry should take evidence from Parliamentarians and members of the
Party.‘The latter mentioned above have been ignored for too long ~ their
experience with voters is invaluable. For example, the feedback I have had
of the local elections in May, is that voters on the doorstep like the
Conservative message; they believe the elected Labour Councillors are
failing them, but they cannot bring themselves to vote Conservative because
they simply do not believe the Conservative Party can and will support
Muslims,
Secondly, the Prime Minister should reach out to all the outreach groups of
the Conservative party such as the Conservative Muslim Forum (CMF) and
actively engage in cialogue. The CMF's executive board has a wealth of
knowledge pertainirg to Muslims, and a huge amount of experience in
engaging with various groups on such topics as well as, campaign
‘experience.
[No doubt, there are other steps that ean and should be taken and the Party's
members wil bein a better position to advise on ths. I sincerely hope, the
Party will take the opportunity to do so.
{As the matter has recsived a great deal of atention from the Media Iam
‘sending a copy of this leter to them. I feel that the issues need to be fully
discussed
Kind regards
News sirens,
Ninawea .
‘The Lord SheikhAnnex of media coverage on the Muslim Council of Britain's call for an
‘urgent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative party
Includes all the main news sites, with the Independent starting last night,
breaking the story & Guardian ending today finding examples of Tories
who have personally experienced this - more coming tomorrow
Independent
hitps:/vww.ndependent.co.uk/news/ukipolitiesislamophobia-tory-party-
uk-conservatives-muslims-inguity=
83765 16.himlamp& twitter_impression-true
ad
hutps://www.independent.co.uk/voices/conservatives-islamophobix-labour-
antisemitism-racism-party-mps-corbyn-may-
28377856,htmI?ampd&_twitler impression=tue
Telegraph
Inups://vww.telegraph.co.uk/polities/2018/0S/3 1Mories-urged-Launch-
independent-inquiry-islamophobia!
Mirror
hupsv/ivww.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/muslim-couneil-brtain-cals-to
12625235,
Guardian
hutps://www.theguardian com/polities2018/may/3 L/muslim
{or-inguiry-into-conservative-party-islamophobia;
hutps:/\www.theguardian convpolities/018/may/3 |/muslim-leaders-urge-
investigation-into-tery-islamophobia-claims;
and.
butps://www,theavaidian.com/polities/201 8/may/3 /inferred-wasnt-british=
{oty-members-tel/-islamophobia
Times
hups://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/458440c4-64e2-L1e8-9002-
slbbs16S6a2aPolities Home
filing-act
by-musl
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Sun
buupsil/wwwy.thesun co,uk/news/641 886 /jeremy-corbyn-has-anti-semit
views-says-jewish-leader-which-could-drive-jews-out-of-brlain-if-he:
becomes-pmi
Broadeast - all the m
BBC
butp:l/ww.bbe.co.uk/news/uk-443 11092
bhups:/witter com/ Victoria IVE/status/1002110853515128832
Sky
bhups:/inews.sky.com/story/muslim-council-of-britain-calls-
tory-islamophobia-11390371
mv
hup://vww.itv.com!goodmorningbritain/news/tory-islamophobia-claims
hutps:/twitter com/GMB/status/1002077077057646592
LBC
bttps://viww [be.co.uk/news/uk/muslim-council-of-britain-calls-for-inguiry=
il
lhups.t/www.tbe.co.uk/tadio/presenters/iain-dale/baroness-warsi-prepared-
inguiry-tory-islamoshobial