Lee Anderson’s Islamophobia 101: how the Conservatives dodge responsibility for the prejudice that is rife in their ranks

Regardless of the furore, the latest assault on London mayor Sadiq Khan by the now-suspended Conservative MP Lee Anderson ought to come as no shock. In a lot the identical method, neither ought to we be stunned at prime minister Rishi Sunak’s failure to name out what Anderson mentioned as being something aside from blatant Islamophobia. In relation to the Conservative celebration, we have now been right here earlier than. For them, that is Islamophobia 101.

The latest controversy started when Anderson – who was till very not too long ago the celebration’s deputy chairman – informed GB Information that Sadiq Khan had “given our capital metropolis away to his mates”. As he went on, “I don’t really consider that the Islamists have gotten management of our nation, however what I do consider is that they’ve obtained management of Khan, and so they’ve obtained management of London”.

Since then, Anderson has doubled down, including: “while you suppose you’re proper, it is best to by no means apologise as a result of to take action could be an indication of weak point”.

Anderson has misplaced the whip, however past that the message popping out of the Conservative celebration has been tempered. Sunak has didn’t even acknowledge Anderson’s feedback as Islamophobic, not to mention condemn them as such, saying as a substitute: “I feel crucial factor is that the phrases have been incorrect, they have been ill-judged, they have been unacceptable.”

The Conservatives’ downside with Islamophobia

Lately, the Conservative celebration has struggled to disentangle itself from numerous allegations that it’s Islamophobic. In 2018, the Muslim Council of Britain offered the celebration with a file detailing near-weekly incidents involving numerous celebration members.

For these resembling the previous celebration chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the file was merely the tip of the iceberg. Noting how experiences of hate and discrimination are notoriously under-reported she claimed on the time that Islamophobia is “widespread [in the party]…from the grassroots, all the best way as much as the highest”.

In the identical yr, former prime minister Boris Johnson referred to Muslim ladies who select to put on the full-face veil as “letterboxes” and “financial institution robbers” in an article for the Telegraph. He dismissed the feedback as little greater than a gaffe however the allegations prompted the then dwelling secretary Sajid Javid to ask his rivals throughout a BBC Conservative management debate to decide to an exterior investigation into Islamophobia, whoever the following chief is perhaps. All, together with Johnson, agreed.

As soon as Johnson had secured the celebration management nonetheless, the investigation was shifted away from Islamophobia onto discrimination extra extensively. Doing so enabled the celebration to distance itself from the very cause why such an investigation was deemed crucial within the first place: claims of widespread Islamophobia.

Quibbling over definitions

One other method the Conservatives – and certainly others – have chosen to disclaim allegations of being Islamophobic is to assert that they don’t have a definition for Islamophobia and subsequently can’t assess whether or not feedback resembling Anderson’s are Islamophobic. Such a premise is in fact a farcical, straw man argument.

Like all different discriminatory phenomena – from racism to homophobia – loads of definitions have been put ahead that might be adopted by the Conservatives. They may merely look to the All Social gathering Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims, which in 2018 made historical past by placing ahead the primary working definition of Islamophobia within the UK. In its report Islamophobia Outlined, it posited that “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a kind of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.

Regardless of this definition being adopted by Labour, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru and numerous native governments throughout the nation, the Conservative celebration introduced it was not aspiring to undertake the definition on the idea that additional consideration was crucial.

Persevering with to disclaim the existence of an applicable definition is, at this level, a handy technique to keep away from being accused of being Islamophobic. As I put it in my 2020 e book Reconfiguring Islamophobia, all the talk round definitions achieves is to afford detractors permission to do nothing about the issue itself.

Assaults on Sadiq Khan

Opposition events have been instantly important of Anderson’s feedback. However whereas the Labour celebration Chair Anneliese Dodds described them as “unambiguously racist and Islamophobic” and the Liberal Democrat London mayoral candidate Rob Blackie castigated the MP for “spreading harmful conspiracy theories”, it’s attention-grabbing that nobody has highlighted how attacking Khan particularly is changing into an alarmingly widespread political tactic.

This was nowhere extra evident than throughout Zac Goldsmith’s 2016 London mayoral marketing campaign. Branded “disgusting” on the time, Goldsmith printed a bit within the Mail on Sunday with the headline: “Are we actually going handy the world’s biggest metropolis to a Labour Social gathering that thinks terrorists are its pals?”. Goldsmith went on to color rival Khan as a safety danger, claiming he had previous hyperlinks with extremists and that he supported Islamic State. Sound acquainted?

So too does the Conservative celebration have a historical past of laying declare to Islamist extremists infiltrating different components of British society. Michael Gove, throughout his time as training secretary, launched an investigation into claims “Muslim hardliners” have been taking on state colleges in Birmingham, regardless of the letter that made the allegations being instantly dismissed as a hoax by the police. In 2015, Theresa Could, whereas dwelling secretary, took it even additional, launching a marketing campaign in opposition to “entryist” infiltration throughout huge swathes of the general public and third sectors by Islamist extremists.

Whereas there must be no hierarchy on the subject of hate or discrimination, the truth is that on the subject of Islamophobia, the scrutiny directed at different types of prejudice is undeniably absent. What may be mentioned and alleged about Muslims in political (and public) areas can’t be mentioned about different spiritual teams and communities.

It must be stunning that the prime minister can’t even acknowledge Anderson’s feedback as Islamophobic – nevertheless it isn’t. It’s simply one other instance of the sheer disregard and utter contempt that’s proven by political leaders in the direction of this downside.

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