Tory ‘turmoil’ stopped party tackling Islamophobia in its ranks

Published

2 years ago

July 24, 2023

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The “turmoil” at the top of the Tories has led to “slow” progress in tackling Islamophobia within the party, an independent reviewer has said.

Boris Johnson launched an inquiry into discrimination within its ranks after the last election in 2019.

And in 2021, Professor Swaran Singh published his findings, saying anti-Muslim sentiment “remains a problem” for the Conservatives.

But two years later, the former equality and human rights commissioner said the raft of changes in leadership – with three Tory prime ministers in three months – had impacted his recommendations being put into place.

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In his latest review, Professor Singh said no formal process had been installed to handle discrimination complaints about senior members of the party.

He also said local-level training was “mixed”, and the response to his investigation had not necessarily improved “awareness or action on the ground”.

And he said those coming forward with allegations needed better care.

“Politics is a rough business, but there is no reason why the complaints process should be indifferent or abrasive to the experience of individuals involved,” Professor Singh wrote.

Mr Johnson promised a review into Islamophobia as part of his Tory leadership campaign – along with his competitors – after rising numbers of complaints in the party.

The former prime minister had faced criticism for his own remarks, comparing Muslim women wearing burkas to “letter boxes” and “bank robbers” in a column for the Daily Telegraph.

When he launched the review, Mr Johnson widened it to cover all forms of discrimination – a move criticised by the Muslim Council of Britain, which wanted a separate inquiry into Islamophobia.

Professor Singh found two-thirds of all incidents reported to the complaints team at the Tories’ headquarters related to allegations of anti-Muslim discrimination, and three-quarters of all incidents recorded in the complaints database involved social media.

He said high-profile incidents, such as remarks made during Lord Goldsmith’s London mayoral campaign in 2016 and Mr Johnson’s comments on Muslim women, “give the impression to many that the party and its leadership are insensitive to Muslim communities”.

The professor called for an overhaul of the Conservatives’ complaints system, more transparency and clear guidelines as to which behaviours should attract which sanctions.

‘Political upheaval’

The party accepted his recommendations in 2021, but Mr Johnson was ousted the following summer, to be replaced by Liz Truss, and she then resigned with Rishi Sunak taking over – also leading to numerous changes to the party chair.

“The two years since the publication of the report have seen considerable political upheaval in the UK,” wrote Professor Singh.

“This turmoil has impacted on the party’s efforts to implement our recommendations.

“Change took longer than expected, and challenges resulting from the interdependencies between recommendations contributed to delays in implementation.”

He pointed to one case in particular, where a complainant said no sanction had been put in place after nearly a year and the offending continued “undeterred”.

“No apology has been offered to the complainant, or demanded of the respondents, despite the panel imposing other sanctions,” said Professor Singh.

On Monday, he gave the party fresh recommendations, including reviewing whether complaints against the most senior members should be handled independently.

Responding to the report, the current Conservative chairman, Greg Hands, said: “The party has made significant progress on Professor Singh’s recommendations with 25 complete and just six ongoing.

“There is however still work to be done and this is a process of continual improvement.”

Politics

PM issues warning to European leaders ahead of ECHR talks

Published

20 mins ago

December 10, 2025

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PM issues warning to European leaders ahead of ECHR talks

Sir Keir Starmer has called for a tougher approach to policing Europe’s borders ahead of a meeting between leaders to discuss a potential shake-up of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

The prime minister said the way in which the ECHR is interpreted in courts must be modernised, with critics long claiming the charter is a major barrier to deportations of illegal migrants.

His deputy, David Lammy, will today be in Strasbourg, France, with fellow European ministers to discuss reforms of how the agreement is interpreted in law across the continent.

In an opinion piece for The Guardian, Sir Keir and his Danish counterpart, Mette Frederiksen, said the change was necessary to prevent voters from turning to populist political opponents.

What’s the issue with the ECHR?

The ECHR, which is the foundation of Britain’s Human Rights Act, includes the right to family life in its Article 8.

That is often used as grounds to prevent deportations of illegal migrants from the UK.

There has also been a rise in cases where Article 3 rights, prohibiting torture, were used to halt deportations over claims migrants’ healthcare needs could not be met in their home country, according to the Home Office.

The Conservatives and Reform UK have both said they would leave the ECHR if in power, while the Labour government has insisted it will remain a member of the treaty.

But Sir Keir admitted in his joint op-ed that the “current asylum framework was created for another era”.

“In a world with mass mobility, yesterday’s answers do not work. We will always protect those fleeing war and terror – but the world has changed, and asylum systems must change with it,” the two prime ministers wrote, as they push for a “modernisation of the interpretation” of the ECHR.

What is happening today?

Mr Lammy is attending an informal summit of the Council of Europe.

He is expected to say: “We must strike a careful balance between individual rights and the public’s interest.

“The definition of ‘family life’ can’t be stretched to prevent the removal of people with no right to remain in the country [and] the threshold of ‘inhuman and degrading treatment’ must be constrained to the most serious issues.”

It is understood that a political declaration signed by the gathered ministers could carry enough weight to directly influence how the European Court of Human Rights interprets the treaty.

The UK government is expected to bring forward its own legislation to change how Article 8 is interpreted in UK courts, and is also considering a re-evaluation of the threshold for Article 3 rights.

The plans have been criticised by Amnesty International UK, which described them as weakening protections.

“Human rights were never meant to be optional or reserved for comfortable and secure times. They were designed to be a compass, our conscience, when the politics of fear and division try to steer us wrong,” Steve Valdez-Symonds, the organisation’s refugee and migrant rights programme director, said.

Sir Keir’s government has already adopted several hardline immigration measures – modelled on those introduced by Ms Federiksen’s Danish government – to decrease the number of migrants crossing the Channel via small boats.

Starmer-Macron deal ‘a sticking plaster’

Meanwhile, French far-right leader Jordan Bardella told The Daily Telegraph he would rewrite his country’s border policy to allow British patrol boats to push back small vessels carrying migrants into France’s waters if he were elected.

The National Rally leader called Sir Keir’s “one-in, one-out” agreement with Emmanuel Macron, which includes Britain returning illegal arrivals in exchange for accepting a matching number of legitimate asylum seekers, a “sticking plaster” and “smokescreen”.

He said that only a complete overhaul of French immigration policy would stop the Channel crossings.

Mr Bardella is currently leading in opinion polls to win the first round of France’s next presidential election, expected to happen in 2027, to replace Mr Macron.

Politics

Trump to begin interviews with Fed chair finalists this week: FT

Published

3 hours ago

December 10, 2025

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Trump to begin interviews with Fed chair finalists this week: FT

The race for the new US Federal Reserve chair is nearing the finish line, with US President Donald Trump reportedly set to begin interviewing finalists for the top job this week.

According to a report from the Financial Times on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has presented a list of four names to the White House.

One of these is former Fed governor Kevin Warsh, whom Bessent is scheduled to meet with on Wednesday. Another is National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, who is seen as the frontrunner for the role.

Another two names would be picked from a list of other finalists, which includes Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, and BlackRock chief investment officer Rick Rieder.

Trump and Bessent are expected to hold at least one interview next week, as a decision looks likely to be announced in January.

However, Trump has revealed he already has his eye on one particular candidate.

“We’re going to be looking at a couple different people, but I have a pretty good idea of who I want,” Trump said to journalists on Air Force One on Tuesday.

Kevin Hassett is a frontrunner for Fed chair role

The upcoming round of interviews suggests that Hassett may not be the clear lock in for the role as previously thought, though he is seen as the favorite.

Earlier this month, prediction market odds on Kalshi and Polymarket shot up for Hassett significantly following comments from Trump at the White House on Dec. 2.

While welcoming guests, Trump labeled Hassett as “potential Fed chair” leading many to assume the president had let a major hint slip.

With Hassett’s odds spiking to 85% after Trump’s comments last week, they have since declined to around 73% for Hassett, while Warsh’s odds sit at 13% on Kalshi at the time of writing, which has floated around this range over December.