Britain’s Conservative Party has an Islamophobia problem

And if the politicians leading us continue to deny this, the consequences could be dire – both for the party and the UK. When asked about Baroness Warsi’s comments Conservative MP Henry Smith gave a flavour of just how Britain’s governing elite fails to understand racism in general and Islamophobia in particular – he claimed Islamophobia wasn’t a significant issue in the Conservative Party because “he hadn’t come across it”. Islamophobic messages play well with Conservative voters One reason behind the Conservative Party’s reluctance to acknowledge its Islamophobia problem appears to be the prevalence of Islamophobic attitudes across certain segments of the British population – segments that are inclined to vote Conservative. The report showed that just under half of those who voted for May’s party in the last general election, for instance, think Islam is a “threat” to the British way of life. When politicians like Johnson and Goldsmith imply that Muslims are “dangerous”, “different” and even “hostile” and get away with it, and when their colleagues – like Smith – try to deny the mere existence of a problem despite mounting evidence to the contrary, they contribute to the mainstreamisation of Islamophobia in Britain.