But are they condemning this, recognising and rooting out their own party’s prejudices? The short answer is no. And are we surprised? Again, no, not really.
In the past couple of weeks, the onslaught of Islamophobic comments has been relentless. Most notably, perhaps, Lee Anderson accused the London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, for being controlled by Islamists, and then went on to defend his comments, stating that other MPs have agreed with him. Despite Rishi Sunak removing his whip as a consequence, it appears that the Tory party is supporting Anderson over the Prime Minister as a grassroots Tory petition was set up demanding that Anderson’s whip be restored as soon as possible, obviously showing support for his Islamophobic comments. It seems a split is forming within the Tories: a radicalised right wing intent on an ideology of hate VS those who would rather brush it under the carpet and hope it goes away - both sides implicit in the continuation of, instead of the stamping-out of, Islamophobia.
"This disgusting double-standard highlights the existence of a racist, unspoken hierarchy wherein anti-Semitism outranks Islamophobia as the worst kind of prejudice"
Consequences and condemnation appear to be the last thing on the party’s mind when it comes to Islamophobia, but, when it comes to anti-Semitism, it’s a whole different story. If we cast our minds back to the 2019 election, the Tories mercilessly hounded the Labour party for their alleged anti-Semitic sentiment, which arguably cost Labour the election, and caused Jeremy Corbyn’s decline and ultimate suspension from the party. Meanwhile, back to the present day, Suella Braverman is spewing hateful nonsense, “the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge now”, with not a hint of repercussion from the Tories. This disgusting double-standard highlights the existence of a racist, unspoken hierarchy wherein anti-Semitism outranks Islamophobia as the worst kind of prejudice. Whilst Labour were falling over themselves in their desperation to disprove the allegations of antisemitism, it appears that the Tories are welcoming Islamophobia into the party with open arms - indeed, the Islamophobes are the ones “in charge now”.
"the Tories are attempting to cast the Muslim population as Great Britain’s next great enemy against which the Conservative party are our best defence"
As if this was not enough, the recent survey published by Hope not Hate this week revealed that 58% of the 521 Tory party members believe Islam is a threat to the British way of life. Comparably, only 30% of the UK public hold the same belief. It would appear that the Tories are attempting to cast the Muslim population as Great Britain’s next great enemy against which the Conservative party are our best defence, regardless of how many times they have crashed the economy and let the public down in the past couple of years. They are thriving on a prejudice that does not reflect the people of our country, and it is unacceptable.
So, all in all, are the Tories holding themselves accountable? Are they condemning Islamophobia? Don’t make me laugh.