Britain / The Tories are leaning more and more to the right

Yesterday Labor leader Keir Starmer called the Conservative Party a party of “flat Earth fans” from the floor of the British Parliament, attacking the economic policy of the Sunak government, but it seems that other “performances” of the Conservatives are equally reprehensible. A recent poll among party members really shines a light on the hostility with which most of them view the country’s second most populous religion, Islam, as a threat.

The poll by Opinium of 521 party members found that 58% believe Islam is a threat to the country and the British way of life, twice as many as the general population. Based on the same measurement, 52% of respondents believe and accept the increasingly widespread belief of late that parts of European cities are “controlled” by Muslims and subject to Sharia law, therefore access to them is “forbidden” to the non-Muslims.

The poll also showed that Tory members were twice as likely to have a negative view of immigrants than a positive one, significantly more likely to have a negative view of the feminist movement than a positive one and slightly more likely to have a negative view of the LGBTI community than positive.

They fear feminists too

Almost three-quarters of respondents believe that immigration is bad for Britain and that multiculturalism is a problem, while 40% believe that the feminist movement has taken it too far, compared to 28% who do not share this view.

A comparison with the results of another similar survey four years ago shows that Islamophobic and xenophobic tendencies within the Tories are steadily increasing. In a 2020 poll, the percentage of party members who considered Islam a threat to the country was below 50%, at 47%. The poll was conducted at the time as part of an inquiry into Islamophobia within the Conservative Party, which concluded that there was no evidence of institutional Islamophobia.

According to the Guardian report, the findings of the latest Opinium poll provide an explanation for why senior Tory officials have refused to condemn recent comments by former party vice-chairman Lee Anderson, who attacked the Labor Party’s , Pakistani-born mayor of London Sadiq Khan claiming that he is “under the control” of the Islamists. Lee Anderson was forced to resign last Saturday after refusing to retract his statement. However, party officials, even Chief Minister Rishi Sunak himself, who is of Punjabi origin, have studiously avoided reprimanding him, let alone repudiating him, effectively offering him political cover.

The Prime Minister even refused to label Lee Anderson’s comments as Islamophobic when pressed by reporters during a recent visit to East Yorkshire, insisting the former deputy made a misguided statement but was in no way prejudiced against Islam and Muslims. .

But senior Tory figures have also defended Lee Anderson, including former home secretary Suella Braverman, who said on Monday the furore over his comments about the London mayor had turned into “hysteria”.

The findings of the Opinium poll of Tory members are also a clear indication that the party is moving further to the right on immigration and religious issues, and this shift could prove crucial in a possible new intra-party battle for leadership in case Rishi Sunak decides to step down after the election, which he is expected to lose.