It took just 24 hours for the lid to truly came off and reveal the full extent of racism in the Conservative Party. Conservative MPs, including cabinet ministers and an entire government department made a series of racist comments. Some passed these off as ‘gaffes’ or errors. But they reveal a dangerous pattern of racism in the party.
“Coloured woman”
On 7 March, Amber Rudd got the ball rolling when she referred to Labour’s Diane Abbott as “a coloured woman” live on BBC Radio 2‘s Jeremy Vine Show.
Rudd later apologised saying, she was “mortified at my clumsy language”. But as Abbott said, Rudd used “outdated”, “offensive” language and a “revealing choice of words”.
Rudd’s work as the boss of the Department for Work and Pensions shows a similar lack of compassion and outdated views:
Amber Rudd undermining an important point about online abuse by referring to Diane Abbott as a “coloured woman” on @BBCRadio2. She clearly gets her language from the same bygone era as her abhorrent welfare policies.
— Danielle Rowley (@DaniRowley) March 7, 2019
And many people pointed out that as home secretary, Rudd was also the architect of increasingly hostile and violent immigration policies:
Just last year a leaked private memo revealed then Home Secretary Amber Rudd boasted to Theresa May of a harsher immigration strategy, giving officials more "teeth", while "ruthlessly" prioritising Home Office funds to it.
She’s nasty, plain nasty.
— Rachael Swindon #WeAreCollective (@Rachael_Swindon) March 7, 2019
It didn’t stop there…
The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has repeatedly asked the government to investigate Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. On 7 March, Labour MP Naz Shah called on Andrea Leadsom to call a debate, “given the scale of it”.
Leadsom claimed the Conservative response has been “extremely robust”. Yet she also told Shah to: “Seek an adjournment debate” and discuss the issue “with Foreign Office ministers”.
Shah’s response was scathing:
I asked @andrealeadsom to call a debate on #Islamophobia given the scale of it in @Conservatives Party & following the @APPGBritMuslims report & definition. She said : speak to foreign office ministers about Islamophobia.When did attacks on BRITISH Muslims become a foreign issue? pic.twitter.com/idhfQEUKpK
— Naz Shah (@NazShahBfd) March 7, 2019
On 7 March, Shah wrote to Theresa May stating that Leadsom:
played into the idea that Muslims born in our country are “foreigners” or somehow less British than the rest of us… This comment exposes a profound ignorance of race issues at the top of government.
My Letter to @theresa_may on #Islamophobia a foreign office issue.
Alluding to British Muslims as foreigners is not a trivial matter.
“Rather than seeking to make excuses, the right thing for Andrea Leadsom to do is wholeheartedly apologise and grant this debate.” pic.twitter.com/cBlD9lA7EI
— Naz Shah (@NazShahBfd) March 8, 2019
Many people also expressed outrage over Leadsom’s comment:
Says a lot about the degree of racism in the Tory party that Andrea Leadsom saying BRITISH Muslims should consult the FOREIGN office to discuss concerns about Tory Islamophobia is not the most racist thing a Tory MP has said today. #AmberRudd
— Anita (@a_nitak) March 7, 2019
Amber Rudd calls Diane Abbott "a coloured woman" while Andrea Leadsom says institutional bigotry against British Muslims is an issue for … the Foreign Office.
Just WHAT will it take for institutional prejudice in the Tory party to be taken seriously? pic.twitter.com/jIiFlCVS0D
— Hicham Yezza (@HichamYezza) March 7, 2019
Wwwwwhhhhhhaaaaaatttttt? @andrealeadsom
British Muslims are errrrr British 🤦🏽♀️
What is wrong with some of my colleagues🤷🏽♀️
We are in a hole …..stop digging! https://t.co/d708fH9BQ0— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) March 7, 2019
This is a crucial issue, not least because Islamophobic hate crimes in London alone rose over 31% in 2017/18.
“Fancy an African Adventure?”
Later that day, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) was forced to remove a series of job vacancies posted under the tagline “Fancy an African Adventure?”
As Buzzfeed reported, an FCO employee said this:
Harks back to colonial-era fantasies of a temporary tropical getaway as a character-building career boost.
Many people expressed concerns about the advert:
https://twitter.com/yagbebi/status/1103768537829699584
An 'African adventure'? Tories are still in the days of 'Darkest Africa'. #ToryRacism #GTTO https://t.co/Jdyum5ANMC
— Crispian Wheldon 🖐️🇵🇸 (@CrispianWheldon) March 7, 2019
After @DavidLammy vs. @StaceyDooley – the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is advertising a job: "Fancy an African Adventure?". Yeah – sure, we don't have a racism problem. https://t.co/EVhf6916TD pic.twitter.com/62MGK64dnw
— Asad Dhunna (@asadd) March 7, 2019
Ignoring racism
On 7 March, the Guardian also reported that Conservative party chair Brandon Lewis is:
Accused of ignoring repeated pleas by Tory members to investigate alleged racist and Islamophobic incidents, including a claim that a white senior party official referred to an Asian councillor as an orangutan.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi has been leading the call to investigate Islamophobia and all forms of racism in the Conservative Party for some time. On 7 March, she highlighted Islamophobia in the party in a series of tweets:
I have published daily examples of racism &Islamophobia w/n @Conservatives -our Daily Detox. It’s wearing &embarrassing, bt if that’s the only way 2ensure the party which was a home of choice 4 this working-class Muslim remains so 4 future Brit Muslims, then it’s worth fighting https://t.co/ggDOH9e2lT
— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) March 7, 2019
This is how bad the problem is @sajidjavid
When you present as of “Muslim heritage only” and make clear that Islam is not practised by you or in your home and yet you are still considered “too Muslim” for these bigots.
A lesson – Stop feeding the beast of bigotry 😢 https://t.co/TAnzMFLZXC— Sayeeda Warsi (@SayeedaWarsi) March 7, 2019
Enough is enough
With so much blatant Conservative racism on show, even the BBC‘s Laura Kuenssberg tweeted:
Awful day for Cabinet own goals today – Bradley and Rudd both apologising for causing obvious offence
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) March 7, 2019
Although her language was criticised:
Why is it always a gaffe or an own goal when it's the Tories, but systemic and institutional when it's Labour? Consistent narrative would be nice, no wonder OFCOM are investigating…not that the BBC are reporting that…
— Damien Willey 🟢 🔴 (@KernowDamo) March 7, 2019
It wasn’t difficult to join up the dots:
https://twitter.com/rosskempsell/status/1103679968800882690
Yet on 8 March, James Cleverly, deputy Conservative Party chair, excused all this saying, “we all make mistakes”, claiming the comments were just a “slip of the tongue”.
But these are not “mistakes”, “own goals” or gaffes. This is out-and-out racism. Its consequences destroy lives. Enough is enough.
Featured image via Chris McAndrew/Wikimedia and screengrab
