‘Unacceptable’: Boris Johnson ignores MP’s Islamophobia concerns for a year

Exclusive: ‘Shocking and wholly unacceptable’ delay to be raised in parliament

The prime minister has not responded to the letter (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Boris Johnson has not responded to an MP’s call for action on Islamophobia for a year, it can be revealed.

Afzal Khan, a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims, wrote to the prime minister in November 2020 warning of rising hate crime and questioning “the inaction of this government in tackling the issue”.

An official guide says that government departments should respond to correspondence from MPs within 20 working days, but Mr Khan has not received a reply.

The delay will be formally raised in the House of Commons on Monday, which marks the beginning of Islamophobia Awareness Month.

Mr Khan will call the lack of response “shocking and wholly unacceptable” and urge the prime minister to make a statement to MPs on Islamophobia.

His 2020 letter, seen by The Independent, accused the government of reinforcing “disgraceful racism” towards Muslims with actions during the coronavirus pandemic, including a sudden regional lockdown on the eve of Eid al-Adha.

“It contributed to a deeply concerning, and false, far-right narrative that British Muslims are ‘spreading corona’,” Mr Khan added.

“As prime minister it is your duty to protect and safeguard all communities. However, I am disappointed, if not surprised, at the inaction of this government in tackling the issue of Islamophobia, which is clearly growing.”

A report into Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, published in May, found that two-thirds of discriminatory incidents reported to the party’s headquarters over six years related to anti-Muslim hatred.

The review was commissioned in December 2019 after accusations of Islamophobic behaviour by some party members and representatives.

It considered cases including a 2018 column written by Mr Johnson comparing Muslim women who wear full-face veils to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers”.

The review said such incidents “give an impression to some of a party and leadership insensitive to Muslim communities”.

The government was previously accused of “utterly neglecting” Islamophobia by failing to produce a definition that can be used to combat anti-Muslim hatred for more than two years.

A group of MPs and peers formulated a working definition and called for it to be adopted in 2018, saying the lack of one was allowing Islamophobia to “increase in society to devastating effect”.

The Conservative government rejected the proposed definition in May 2019 and announced that it would commission independent experts to draw up a different one.

But only one adviser is known to have been appointed and no proposals have ever been published.

During a parliamentary debate on the definition last month, minister Eddie Hughes said: “We remain committed to there being a robust and effective definition, and we will outline our steps to achieve that in due course.”

The Independent asked Downing Street to comment on the delay in responding to Mr Afzal’s letter but has not received a reply.