Fourteen Conservative Party members have been suspended after posting Islamophobic or racist comments on social media, it emerged yesterday.
The remarks were found on a pro-Jacob Rees-Mogg Facebook group, including calls for Muslims to be ‘turfed out of public office’, for the Government to ‘get rid of all mosques’ and calling Muslim Home Secretary Sajid Javid a ‘Trojan horse’.
Theresa May was accused of ‘burying her head in the sand’ over ‘institutional Islamophobia’ in the party by former Tory chairman Baroness Warsi.
Former minister Baroness Warsi criticised the Conservative Party’s failure to address the issue
She said yesterday that the Prime Minister had ‘failed to tackle the problem head on’.
The peer spoke out after council candidate Peter Lamb, who had been suspended over controversial comments about Muslims, was reinstated by his local Tory party in Harlow, Essex.
Theresa May (pictured at 10 Downing Street yesterday) was accused of ‘burying her head in the sand’ over ‘institutional Islamophobia’
Mr Lamb had posted incendiary messages on Twitter in 2015 such as: ‘Islam [was] like alcoholism… the first step to recovery is admit you have a problem.’ He was reinstated before 2018 council elections after apologising.
Baroness Warsi said: ‘[Mrs May] doesn’t listen, she fails to acknowledge when there is a problem.
‘It’s probably symptomatic of the way in which her leadership has dealt with other matters.’
Party sources said Mr Lamb had quit the party yesterday over the row.
In response to the 14 member suspensions reported by Buzzfeed, a party spokesman said: ‘This Facebook group is in no way affiliated with the Conservative Party… however, we have identified some party members and they have been immediately suspended.’
Baroness Warsi warned that the party’s failure to address the issue within its ranks risked damaging Conservative chances at the next election.
Lady Warsi, who was the first Muslim woman to have a seat at the Cabinet table, said there was a ‘deep-rooted problem’ in the party and Theresa May had failed to act.
Mr Lamb was due to stand in Harlow, Essex, in May’s local elections despite having been disciplined in 2017.
In 2015, he tweeted: ‘Islam like alcoholism [sic]. The first step to recovery is admit you have a problem.’
Later in the same year, he tweeted: ‘Turkey buys oil from ISIS. Muslims sticking together.’
He said: ‘I deeply regret my remarks on social media. At no point did I intend to cause any offence to the Muslim community. I have reflected on my comments and decided that I should step down as a local election candidate and resign (from) the Conservative party with immediate effect.’
The remarks were found on a pro-Jacob Rees-Mogg Facebook group
A Conservative spokesman said: ‘Mr. Lamb was investigated and suspended by his local association back in 2017. He has subsequently resigned from the party.
‘Discrimination or abuse of any kind is wrong and will not be tolerated.
‘When CCHQ have been made aware of cases we have acted swiftly and decisively, suspending or expelling those involved and launching an immediate investigation under our party’s code of conduct.’
Lady Warsi rejected the claim that the Tories were acting to address the problem.
She told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: ‘We have a deep-rooted problem of anti-Muslim comments, Islamophobic comments, racist comments that have been made right from the top – from MPs through to councillors, council candidates, members, linked groups.’
She said she had previously suggested an internal inquiry to deal with the issue, but added: ‘I think it has now gone beyond that and we need an independent inquiry.’
Lady Warsi, who was the first Muslim woman to have a seat at the Cabinet table, said there was a ‘deep-rooted problem’ in the party and Theresa May had failed to act.
She went on: ‘We cannot have a situation where a mainstream political party is sending out a message in the way it is acting that certain parts of our country, certain communities in our country, certain citizens in our country, are simply not welcome in our party and therefore are creating this environment in which, sadly, I think we will feel the impact at the next election.’
Lady Warsi urged Tory chief executive and treasurer Sir Mick Davis to act, claiming Mrs May and party chairman Brandon Lewis ‘have failed’.
Fiyaz Mughal of Tell MAMA, which monitors Islamaphobia, said he met Mr Lewis seven months ago, and he was genuinely committed to tackling hate.
‘However, I had made clear that unless affected associations were not supported, provided with training and their systems and processes of weeding out people with hateful views strengthened, then these problems would continue,’ he said.
‘I impressed on him that some of us within Tell MAMA would even volunteer our time on a personal basis and this was never taken up.
‘This problem is not going away unless there is transparency in the process of addressing anti-Muslim hate and where an independent group of people can conduct the activities mentioned on an urgent basis.’
Comments included calls for Muslims to be ‘turfed out of public office’, for the Government to ‘get rid of all mosques’ and calling Muslim Home Secretary Sajid Javid (pictured) a ‘Trojan horse’.
Matthew McGregor, campaigns director of advocacy group Hope not Hate, said: ‘The Tory’s Islamophobia problem is denial heaped upon wilful blindness. Enough. Suspending a few bad apples won’t cure the rot that seems to have set deep within the party’s membership.
‘We salute Lady Warsi for her courage in calling out the problem: it’s now up to Brandon Lewis to move up a gear and launch a full independent inquiry. The problem won’t be wished away or disappear until and unless that happens.’
Lady Warsi has also accused Mr Javid of engaging in ‘dog whistle’ politics by pandering to those on the right of the party.
Lady Warsi, who was the first Muslim woman to have a seat at the Cabinet table, said there was ‘no doubt’ Mr Javid is a leadership contender.
She told BBC Two’s Newsnight: ‘There’s no doubt he’s playing to a specific kind audience and appealing to that.
‘But he should read what these people are saying because however much he dog whistles, however much he panders to the right of our party, sadly the right of our party believe he’s far too Muslim to be the leader of the party.
‘And therefore I think it’s important for us all, as colleagues, people who believe in the centre ground of politics, not to pander to this kind of politics.’
Mr Javid has come under fire in recent weeks over his decision to strip Islamic State bride Shamima Begum of her British citizenship, with the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn branding it a ‘very extreme manoeuvre’.