A former senior Tory MEP claims he overheard a serving minister plotting to use his Muslim faith against him politically – and today calls for the Conservatives to mount an investigation, pledging to name names.
Sajjad Karim first raised an Islamophobia allegation more than two years ago but has now publicly shared with The Independent his most detailed account after accusing a party inquiry of excluding him.
He claims that despite being told by Tory HQ that he would be contacted by the inquiry into discrimination within Conservative party ranks, its findings – which rejected allegations of institutional Islamophobia – were published last year without his evidence.
It follows a claim last month by Tory MP Nusrat Ghani that her Muslim faith was given as a reason for her being sacked as a minister, which has prompted a Cabinet Office probe after reigniting the issue of Islamophobia within the Conservatives.
Karim, who served as an MEP for 15 years until 2019, alleges that in 2013 he overheard two Conservative Parliamentarians – one of whom went on to become a minister and is presently serving in government – having an Islamophobic conversation about him. “It’s politically motivated. It was entirely a political exercise to try and undermine me, to use my religion as a means to undermine me,” he said. “I don’t know Nus Ghani’s case, or situation… all I know is in my case the discussion was about how my religious and cultural background could be engineered politically and used against me.”
He said he was “not at all surprised” to hear the conversation and decided not to raise an issue at the time. “Anybody who is fair-minded at all, ought to be horrified to know this. And you would have thought the party would want to know,” he added. Explaining his decision not to complain at the time, he said: “Ultimately, there was a political purpose behind it. I just got on with making sure that that political exercise didn’t succeed.” Though the conversation was Islamophobic, he alleged, he said no slurs were used in the discussion he heard.
Karim said he was contacted by the chairman’s office and invited him to make a complaint after he aired his allegation in September 2019 to the BBC. However, he said he told them he would only do so if he could meet with the then party chairman, James Cleverly, and the complaint handling was led by him given the sensitivity of the matter.
However, he says he was told Cleverly was too busy and that he should use the normal process. “I responded, and said, no I’m not going to use the standard process, this is not appropriate. And then I was emailed back saying that, actually, the ... inquiry was going to be taking place … and that the inquiry would contact me and that I should give my evidence to the ... inquiry and I said, fine.”
But he said the Singh investigation – which published its findings in May last year – never got in touch with him. “So they’ve gone ahead and concluded all of this but I’d been excluded from this,” he said. “So in terms of my complaint, it was neither dealt with by the chairman, nor was it a part of the Singh inquiry and therefore it just has not been a part of any process in dealing with Islamophobia in the Conservative party.”
He added: “I think it’s demonstrative of a lack of real, genuine seriousness in the party to actually treat Islamophobia as a serious issue. It’s seen more as a nuisance that in some way has got to be dealt with.”
The inquiry, chaired by Professor Swaran Singh, did not contact him, he says, despite its report stating: “The investigation conducted a systematic Internet search for all cases of alleged discrimination within the party reported in the media to identify those that appeared to be missing from the central database.” There is no mention of Karim’s allegation in the report.
Asked what he thought should happen with his allegation now, Karim said: “Do I have any confidence that the current set-up has any interest in actually dealing with my complaint? No, not at all. But that’s not to say that the Conservative party per se, the board, ought not to be interested in what has actually happened here.”
In an apparent reference to Boris Johnson’s fragile leadership, he added: “And also, that’s not to say that … if things change in a certain direction so far as the party and party leadership is concerned, that at some stage in the future we won’t have to revisit all of this.”
Pressed on whether he thought his allegation should be investigated, he replied: “Oh, absolutely… it should be [investigated]. Will it be? I have no confidence in that at all.” He said he would “cooperate fully” and confirmed he will name names of the individuals involved in the allegation. “I will tell the party the full facts of what I experienced,” he said.
He said he would participate in a “confidential process” where they can “genuinely come to proper findings and deal with this in an appropriate manner”. In reference to the serving minister, he said: “The party’s then got to decide, are they a fit and proper person?”
Karim, who served as MEP for northwest England from 2004 to 2019 when he lost his seat, is no fan of the prime minister. “I think that there is a need for the Conservative party to think long and hard today about how we once again become a party that is actually fit for governance,” he said. “Whilst Boris Johnson is at the helm, I just don’t see how you can carry out the necessary reforms, he’s just too much of a distraction.”
Asked whether he would prefer to see him resign, he replied: “I think for the benefit of the country, yes. I think we’re now at a point where now, really, any leader, prime minister, would take an objective view that I’m causing far more harm to the country that I am [leading] by being in this position and, therefore, I should vacate.”
The Conservative party did not provide direct responses to a series of questions put to it, including whether it will investigate Karim’s allegation. A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “We committed to holding an investigation during the 2019 leadership race following accusations of discrimination within the party.
“An independent investigation was undertaken by Professor Swaran Singh, with individuals submitting evidence via a public call for evidence. Professor Swaran Singh’s investigation concluded that there was no evidence of institutionalised racism or a systemic issue. As a party we have appointed the most ethnically diverse cabinet in history, we celebrate and value the contribution that every community has to offer our great country and Conservative family.
“The Conservative Party has a zero-tolerance approach to discrimination of any kind, and has always acted to deal with any incidents of hatred, abuse or intimidation.”
The Cabinet Office declined to comment. Professor Singh was contacted for comment.
