Former Tory MEP on Islamophobia declare: ‘It was a political train to make use of my faith to undermine me’

After Sajjad Karim first raised an allegation of Islamophobia in opposition to a serving minister he says he was advised by Tory HQ that he could be contacted by the get together inquiry to share his proof. Greater than two years later, he’s nonetheless ready for a name.

The previous ConservativeMEP – who spent 15 years in Brussels representing north-west England – spoke out in September 2019 amid a sequence of Islamophobia claims piling up in opposition to the get together.

The 51-year-old recalled overhearing a dialog between two Conservative Parliamentarians with Islamophobic content material instantly about him. “I used to be in a position to hear these conversations instantly with not simply an Islamophobic base, however a really clear expression of very prejudiced views and positions which have been clearly Islamophobic,” he advised the BBC.

At present, as he requires the Conservative get together to lastly examine his allegation, Karim has given The Impartial his fullest account up to now of the alleged 2013 incident. Although he’s not publicly figuring out the people – one in every of whom he says went on to develop into a minister and is presently serving in authorities – he has confirmed he’ll title names to an investigation.

It comes within the wake of a separate declare final month by Tory MP Nusrat Ghani that her Muslim religion was given as a cause for her being sacked as a minister, prompting Boris Johnson to order a Cupboard Workplace inquiry.

Referencing the alleged 2013 incident, Karim mentioned: “It was totally a political train to attempt to undermine me, to make use of my faith as a method to undermine me.” He added: “I don’t know Nus Ghani’s case, or state of affairs… all I do know is in my case the dialogue was about how my non secular and cultural background may very well be engineered politically and used in opposition to me.”

As Karim identified, anybody “fair-minded” should be “horrified”. And but, to this present day, there was no investigation by the get together. Although he was contacted by the chairman’s workplace following the BBC interview, he says he was refused a gathering with the then chairman, James Cleverly.

“I used to be… contacted by the chairman’s workplace and advised that there’s a central deal with to which I may… make a report of Islamophobia on,” he mentioned. “A criticism, a complaints e-mail deal with which might go to central workplace and a staffer would choose it up and cope with it.

“I made it clear that, really, that isn’t an applicable approach as a result of my criticism is one in relation to 2 very senior members of the Conservative Parliamentary get together and this was not an applicable format both for me or for them, or for the get together for that matter, for this to be handled. However a extra applicable approach could be for the chairman to see me, and I’d be completely satisfied to come back all the way down to London face-to-face – James Cleverly was the chairman on the time – and that I would offer him with the entire particulars of my criticism and this must be led by him at a senior stage due to the very of nature of the allegations and the folks concerned. This isn’t applicable for a junior member of employees to be coping with.”

Nonetheless, he says, he was advised Cleverly was too busy and that he ought to use the traditional course of. “I responded, and mentioned, no I’m not going to make use of the usual course of, this isn’t applicable. After which I used to be emailed again saying that, really, the… inquiry was going to be happening… and that the inquiry would contact me and that I ought to give my proof to the… inquiry and I mentioned, high-quality.”

When the decision by no means got here and the inquiry revealed its findings greater than a yr and a half later with out his enter, Karim labelled the report a “whitewash”. The “impartial investigation into alleged discrimination” within the Tory get together, chaired by Professor Sarwan Singh, mentioned allegations of institutional islamophobia “weren’t borne out by the proof out there to the Investigation”. Nonetheless, the report said “anti-Muslim sentiment stays an issue inside the Occasion”. Boris Johnson’s feedback evaluating ladies carrying the burqa to letterboxes have been additionally criticised and the Might 2021 report discovered proof that the get together’s complaints system was in want of an overhaul.

Singh’s report famous that the Conservative get together’s central database recorded 1,418 complaints between 2015 to 2020 regarding 727 incidents of alleged discrimination. Two-thirds of all incidents associated to claims of anti-Muslim discrimination.

The report concluded: “We found some examples of discrimination and anti-Muslim sentiment, most of which have been at native affiliation stage. We didn’t, nonetheless, discover proof of a Occasion which systematically discriminated in opposition to any explicit group…”

Does Karim suppose that the Conservative get together is institutionally Islamophobic? He pauses, earlier than replying:  “I don’t suppose it’s however I feel what is going on is there are a small minority of people that both are or who’re prepared to make use of Islamophobia as a political instrument regardless that they may not essentially ascribe to these views. And the prime minister himself has really been accused of that. However the total workings of the get together within the political context that we’re at the moment in implies that these folks really feel emboldened sufficient to have the ability to do this stuff within the perception that they’ll get away with it.”

He added: “Now, that’s very totally different to being institutionally Islamophobic or anti-Semitic, or racist. That is opportunism at play in a context that enables them to get away with it.”

Karim’s mother and father moved to Britain from Pakistan within the mid-Nineteen Sixties. His father labored for the Muslim Industrial Financial institution, first as a clerk earlier than rising to develop into a supervisor; his mom a housewife. Certainly one of six kids, Karim grew up in Brierfield, Lancashire. Although he handed out leaflets for the Conservatives as a seven-year-old, he stopped supporting the Tories after arriving in London to check in 1989 and realising, in his phrases, “we’ve been accomplished over” when he in contrast what he noticed within the capital to the economically depressed state of affairs locally at dwelling. He later joined the Liberal Democrats.

Father-of-two Karim, who switched from representing the Liberal Democrats to affix the Conservatives in 2007 underneath David Cameron’s management, sees himself as a One Nation Conservative. The MEP, who supported the stay camp in the course of the Brexit referendum, misplaced his seat within the European Parliament in July 2019. He says he took a six-month break earlier than taking on consultancy work providing strategic recommendation to shoppers in personal trade or commerce organisations.

Nonetheless, he has eyes on returning to political workplace and hopes to have the ability to stand for Parliament as Conservative candidate on the subsequent normal election. However he’s no fan of Johnson, and doesn’t see a path clear whereas he’s in Quantity 10. “The political realities are, past holding particular person membership, attempting to get onto candidacy picks, constituencies and many others, it’s an enormous problem for centrists and me personally, in fact,” he defined.

“I feel one of many greatest challenges that really we now face is sustaining the unity of the UK and I actually don’t see a circumstance rising the place we will actually keep that with out some substantial reform,” he mentioned. “Reform to our constitutional order, reform to our political system and this actually wants each a authorities and an opposition that attain into all components of the UK and attempt to arrive at a brand new settlement that enables us to stay intact.”

He added: “We now have obtained to search out a way of creating certain centrist politicians who’ve actually been cleared out of British politics. Firstly it occurred underneath Corbyn within the Labour get together after which it’s occurred extra latterly with Brexit within the Conservative get together. We, as a rustic, have gotten to search out a way to verify we get these folks again into our political system.”

He continued: “Brits, we’re not extremes, we by no means have been. We’re very center of the street, centre-right, centre-left, open, tolerant however this English nationalist agenda that’s being led right now, I refuse to simply accept that it’s endorsed by the vast majority of the British folks. It isn’t. It’s the seize of our political system by a small minority of components of England is what we’re taking a look at, in actuality.”

The Conservative get together didn’t present direct responses to a sequence of questions put to it by The Impartial, together with whether or not it can examine Karim’s allegation. A Conservative Occasion spokesperson mentioned: “We dedicated to holding an investigation in the course of the 2019 management race following accusations of discrimination inside the Occasion. An impartial investigation was undertaken by Professor Swaran Singh, with people submitting proof through a public name for proof. Professor Swaran Singh’s investigation concluded that there was no proof of institutionalised racism or a systemic concern.

“As a Occasion we now have appointed probably the most ethnically various cupboard in historical past, we have a good time and worth the contribution that each group has to supply our nice nation and Conservative household. The Conservative Occasion has a zero-tolerance strategy to discrimination of any form, and has at all times acted to cope with any incidents of hatred, abuse or intimidation.” The Cupboard Workplace declined to remark. Professor Singh was contacted for remark.

Karim doesn’t need his recent intervention on his Islamophobia allegation to be taken to imply he’s a single concern politician. “I’ve obtained an enormous EU profession behind me, I fought an election… [to be] president of the European Parliament – got here second, a lot in opposition to all expectations, we did a improbable job there – held so many chairmanships, so senior inside the get together, labored actually intently with two prime ministers,” he mentioned, including: “These are issues that have been all being accomplished as a result of I by no means allowed discriminatory elements to get in the way in which.”