Statement: MEND calls for EHRC Investigation following Conservative Islamophobia Investigation Whitewash

MEND has called upon the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to formally take action in investigating Islamophobia in the Conservative Party following the publication of the Singh Investigation Report.

Despite initially supporting the Singh Investigation and submitting evidence of over 120 instances of Islamophobia within the Conservative Party, we are gravely disappointed by the whitewashed report.

1. The report does not use the term Islamophobia, instead describing it as “deeply contested”, despite widespread acceptance of its usage, including by the APPG for British Muslims and representative Muslim organisations.
2. The report fails to adequately tackle clear examples of Islamophobic and inflammatory comments at senior levels of the party, such as Boris Johnson’s comments on Muslim women in burqas, instead claiming that these cases merely “give the impression to many that the Party and its leadership are insensitive to Muslim communities” – an approach that is tantamount to gaslighting.
3. The exclusive focus of the investigation on complaints procedures fails to address the core issue, which is the pervasive atmosphere of Islamophobia that fuels such complaints and which allows entrenched Islamophobic sentiments to fester.

We have, therefore, written to the EHRC demanding it use its statutory powers to initiate an immediate independent investigation into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party.