Dossier reveals over 100 claims of Islamophobia and racism in Conservative party
2 min read
A dossier containing more than 100 allegations of Islamophobia and racism within the Conservative party has been revealed.
ITV News was passed the explosive document by social media user @MatesJacob, outlining racist and Islamophobic content posted online by those claiming to be Conservative party members.
They include people referring to Islam as a "cult" and an "infestation".
Nineteen of the 110 contain cases contained in the dossier have reportedly never been in the public domain before.
Former Conservative party co-Chair Baroness Sayeed Warsi told ITV News: "Last month, I spent four weeks speaking to the party privately and I started by asking them to bring to the table the number of complaints that they had received - and that I too would bring to the table the number of complaints that I had received to try and at least understand the scale of the problem.
"The fact that the party refused to do that, and the fact that we have these revelations today that this issue is widespread and deep, clearly shows that the party has got something to hide."
Baroness Warsi has repeatedly called for the Conservatives to launch an independent inquiry into Islamophobia. She said that her party "have to first and foremost acknowledge the extent of the problem. They then have to transparent about the process that is being adopted."
Responding to the allegations, a Conservative party spokesman said: "A substantial number of these people are not members. Any other party members on this list have either already been suspended, expelled or are under investigation.
"Our complaints process is rightly a confidential one but where we find evidence of members making abusive or discriminatory posts, we take swift action."
But Labour MP Wes Streeting said that the Conservative party was "making all the same mistakes as the Labour party has done on tackling anti-Semitism."
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