26 Jun, 2019 10:13

Boris Johnson ‘perfect example’ of Tories ‘playing into’ anti-Muslim prejudices

It is not surprising that a poll shows the majority of Tories believe Sharia law is being practiced in some areas of Britain and nearly a half don’t want a Muslim prime minister, a researcher has told RT.

A YouGov poll, conducted last week for the anti-racist nonprofit Hope not Hate, revealed that 43 percent of the Conservative Party members “would prefer to not have the country led by a Muslim.”

Furthermore, nearly half of the polled Tories said there are ‘no-go areas’ for non-Muslims in Britain, and more than 65 percent believe there are places that “operate” under Sharia law in the UK. The news comes as the frontrunner for the Conservative leadership, Boris Johnson, faces criticism for his past comments about Muslims and other minorities. He compared women in burqas to “letter boxes” and “bank robbers,” among other things.

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The results of the poll are hardly surprising, Catherine Shakdam, a researcher at the Al-Bayan Center for Planning and Studies, told RT.

The politicians… are trying to garner support by playing right into people’s hatred, fears and prejudices, thinking that it will make them more popular and speed-up their career. Boris Johnson is a perfect example of that.

The stoking of racism by people “in a position of leadership” is “very dangerous” for Britain which strives to be a pluralist democracy, Shakdam said. “This is the issue we’re going to have to address as a society as a whole.”

The Tories are not the only major party to be scrutinized for bigoted views in recent years. Jewish groups and many others have accused the Labour Party of “promoting anti-Semitic views.” The leadership was eventually pressured to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism as a code of conduct. In April, a leaked recording appeared to have shown that the party’s leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was concerned that the evidence of anti-Semitism within Labour “was being mislaid, ignored or not used.”