House of Lords Westminster London SWIA OPW. Website: wwwlordsheikh.com ‘The Rt, Hon, Theresa May ‘The Prime Minister 10 Downing Street London SWIA 2AA 1 June 2018 Bea “Wnervesa ISLAMAPHOBIA WITHIN THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY You will no doubt be aware of the Muslim Council of Britain's (MCB) letter of 31st May to the Chairman of the Conservative Party ~ the Rt. Hon Brandon Lewis MP did set out several instances of conduct and statements, by members of our Party which they labelled as Islamophobie and requesting a full inquiry | make no criticism of the MCB for making such a strong statement — itis both factually correct and, a matter of grave concern to the many Muslim members and supporters of the Party. However, the contents of the MCB's letter comes as no surprise to me and should not come as a surprise to the Party either. In view of the gravity of the circumstances, I feel it necessary to write to you directly on the matter and I would like to refer to the following issues, 2016 London Mayoral Election As the Conservative party's candidate for Mayor of London Zac Goldsmith's smear campaign against Sadiq Khan as a ‘terrorist was an absolute disgrace, even for the most ardent Conservative supporter ~ Muslim or not, London ‘SWIAOPWSuch conduet not only embarrassed the Party, but alienated many Conservative members from the campaign and, voters. I raised these issues with Zac Goldsmith, CCHQ and David Cameron as Prime Minister which I am sad to say, were ignored. Bob Blackman hosting Tapan Ghosh in Parliament, October 2017 You will recall 1 wrote to you with deep concems on Tapan Ghosh’s admittance to the UK, his invitation to Parliament to celebrate Diwali and his subsequent appearance as guest speaker at an event titled “Tolerating the Intolerant” hosted ky Bob Blackman MP (organised by British Board of Hindu Scholars / National Couneil of Hindu Temples (UK). 1 did set out clear reasons why I believe Tapan Ghosh’s personal conduct merits his exclusion under the 2006 Regulations as @ person who represents a genuine, present and sufficiently serious threat affecting one of the fundamental interests of society”. It was my sincere request to you, as Prime Minister to direct the Home Secretary to make an order banning ‘Tapan Ghosh from entering the UK in future. I acknowledge and thank you for your reply. However, regrettably the response fell short of the swift and determined action required. Choice of Candidates for the last General Elect On the 25* April 2017 1 and Mohammed Amin (Chairman of the Conservative Forum- CME) jointly wrote a letter to Gareth Fox (Head of Candidates) with a copy to Sir Patrick McLoughlin, recommending that four very active Muslim members of the Conservative Party should be considered as Candidates for the General Elections. The names of the persons recommended were Attic Rahman, Dr Anwara Ali, Clir Hashim Bhatti and Ash Zaman, None of the abeve candidates were chosen which was a great disappointment for us. Party's relationship with Conservative Muslim Forum (CMF) 1 established CMF twelve years ago which did become a robust body. The Forum was a conduit of dialogue and action between the Party and many conservative voters.When I was Chairman of the CMF I had frequent meetings with ‘consecutive Party Chairman namely Francis Maude, Caroline Spelman and Eric Pickles. These meetings were very useful and a dialogue was ‘maintained with us, These meetings for some reason were subsequently terminated. Tunderstand recently Mohammed Ali and Ash Zaman (Deputy Chairman of CMP) asked the Party Chairman for a meeting. Brandon Lewis did meet them on 8" February 2018 but I am told that no substantive or productive action has been taken. ‘The Publie Perception ‘These instances aside, many other occasions have been cited by the ‘mainstream media and I annex a list to this letter. ‘The sheer number of media outlets interest inthis story should send a strong. ‘message to the Party, this is not something which can be ignored. With an estimated 3 million Muslims in the UK (nearly half aged 25 or under) who associate themselves as British, the Party cannot, nor can it be seen t0 riminate, We mist therefore acknowledge, the inadvertent and negative public perception is serious issue. As the Party who have formed the Government, there is a public interest to tensute the elected executive of the day can and will take swift and decisive action against all forms of discrimination. This is paramount if, as I know ‘we are, an open Party for all. Just as we called on the Labour Party's leadership to tackle anti-Semitism, which I support, the Conservative Party must now show we will not tolerate any form of discrimination within our own Party. As a lifelong Conservative, I know we as a Party are better than this. Immediate steps the Party should take I call on you as the Prime Minister to take the following two steps immediately: Firstly, set up an independent inquiry — we must investigate instances of Islamophobie conduct and isolate them swifly. ‘We must also put in place clear and transparent measures which actively prohibit all forms of discrimination whether religious, racial, or social. The inquiry should take evidence from Parliamentarians and members of the Party.‘The latter mentioned above have been ignored for too long ~ their experience with voters is invaluable. For example, the feedback I have had of the local elections in May, is that voters on the doorstep like the Conservative message; they believe the elected Labour Councillors are failing them, but they cannot bring themselves to vote Conservative because they simply do not believe the Conservative Party can and will support Muslims, Secondly, the Prime Minister should reach out to all the outreach groups of the Conservative party such as the Conservative Muslim Forum (CMF) and actively engage in cialogue. The CMF's executive board has a wealth of knowledge pertainirg to Muslims, and a huge amount of experience in engaging with various groups on such topics as well as, campaign ‘experience. [No doubt, there are other steps that ean and should be taken and the Party's members wil bein a better position to advise on ths. I sincerely hope, the Party will take the opportunity to do so. {As the matter has recsived a great deal of atention from the Media Iam ‘sending a copy of this leter to them. I feel that the issues need to be fully discussed Kind regards News sirens, Ninawea . ‘The Lord SheikhAnnex of media coverage on the Muslim Council of Britain's call for an ‘urgent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative party Includes all the main news sites, with the Independent starting last night, breaking the story & Guardian ending today finding examples of Tories who have personally experienced this - more coming tomorrow Independent hitps:/vww.ndependent.co.uk/news/ukipolitiesislamophobia-tory-party- uk-conservatives-muslims-inguity= 83765 16.himlamp& twitter_impression-true ad hutps://www.independent.co.uk/voices/conservatives-islamophobix-labour- antisemitism-racism-party-mps-corbyn-may- 28377856,htmI?ampd&_twitler impression=tue Telegraph Inups://vww.telegraph.co.uk/polities/2018/0S/3 1Mories-urged-Launch- independent-inquiry-islamophobia! Mirror hupsv/ivww.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/muslim-couneil-brtain-cals-to 12625235, Guardian hutps://www.theguardian com/polities2018/may/3 L/muslim {or-inguiry-into-conservative-party-islamophobia; hutps:/\www.theguardian convpolities/018/may/3 |/muslim-leaders-urge- investigation-into-tery-islamophobia-claims; and. butps://www,theavaidian.com/polities/201 8/may/3 /inferred-wasnt-british= {oty-members-tel/-islamophobia Times hups://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/458440c4-64e2-L1e8-9002- slbbs16S6a2aPolities Home filing-act by-musl im=group-to-(ackle-islamophobia-idUKKCN1TWOXD, Sun buupsil/wwwy.thesun co,uk/news/641 886 /jeremy-corbyn-has-anti-semit views-says-jewish-leader-which-could-drive-jews-out-of-brlain-if-he: becomes-pmi Broadeast - all the m BBC butp:l/ww.bbe.co.uk/news/uk-443 11092 bhups:/witter com/ Victoria IVE/status/1002110853515128832 Sky bhups:/inews.sky.com/story/muslim-council-of-britain-calls- tory-islamophobia-11390371 mv hup://vww.itv.com!goodmorningbritain/news/tory-islamophobia-claims hutps:/twitter com/GMB/status/1002077077057646592 LBC bttps://viww [be.co.uk/news/uk/muslim-council-of-britain-calls-for-inguiry= il lhups.t/www.tbe.co.uk/tadio/presenters/iain-dale/baroness-warsi-prepared- inguiry-tory-islamoshobial