The Conservative party has been accused of continuing to ignore Islamophobia after it quietly reinstated 15 councillors who were suspended over racist or anti-Muslim social media posts.
The party’s disciplinary process is now being seriously scrutinised as the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) refused to publish details of their internal investigations.
It argued that selective cases did not represent an accurate picture, but after a string of suspensions it has been found in the majority of cases where a councillor was disciplined they were later readmitted to the party, The Guardian reports.
The CCHQ has refused to publish details about their disciplinary process, stating that it was “rightly” confidential.
A Conservative spokesman said: “Discrimination or abuse of any kind is wrong.
“When CCHQ has been made aware of the small number of such cases we have acted swiftly, suspending members and launching immediate investigations, in sharp contrast to other parties.
“Our complaints process is rightly a confidential one but there are a wide range of sanctions to challenge and change behaviour, including conditions to undertake training, a period of suspension and expulsion, and these are applied on a case-by-case basis.”
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The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) have accused the Conservative party of institutional Islamophobia and trying to sweep the problem “under the carpet”.
Former co-chair of the Conservative party and member of the House of Lords, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has also echoed the same sentiments.
