When Ahmed (not his real name) joined the Conservative party six years ago, he thought it was a natural fit. “A lot of Muslims share conservative values,” he says. “I stood to be a councillor and there was talk of me going on to the party lists to become an MP.”
He says he worked hard during election time, increasing the south Asian vote in his ward in Yorkshire. But a simple question about postal votes to the MP suddenly made him feel like he did not belong in the party. “I just asked a question,” he says. “In no way did I insinuate that I was going to do anything silly or illegal regarding postal votes.
But his response was ‘This is the UK, sunshine’. It was really patronising – would he have said that to someone not of colour? He was inferring that I wasn’t British.”
He then overheard other members talking disparagingly about another candidate of Pakistani heritage in a different ward. Not long after, he heard another party member say “the only good Muslims are Ahmadiyya Muslims”. “That’s like saying the only good Christians are the Coptics,” he says. “It’s insulting to all the others.”
Seeing Islamophobic comments on local party Facebook groups was common, he says. “It wasn’t a nice experience in the party. Those in the right of the party you felt a sense of being looked down upon, they were patronising you. The whispers weren’t nice at all. But now those same members are very Islamophobic on their Facebook posts, now you see it quite openly.”
‘You mention Islamophobia and they run for the hills,’ said one Muslim Tory councillor.
The heat is on - time for the Tories to get some back. Expect contrite MPs on TV this weekend, promising a crackdown and that 'lessons will be learned' etc. DON'T BELIEVE A WORD THEY SAY - THEY ARE TORIES...
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... lamophobia