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Sajid Javid has denied the Conservative Party has an Islamophobia problem, presenting his appointment as Home Secretary as evidence to the contrary.

Mr Javid, who is not a practising Muslim, but comes from a Muslim family, said he did not recognise claims of anti-Muslim sentiment in his party.

It comes after former Tory Party chair Baroness Warsi said: “There is a simmering anti-Muslim underbelly of islamophobia within the party.”

Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, Mr Javid said: “I’ve got a lot of time for Baroness Warsi, but I’m afraid I do not agree with that.

“For a start, let’s look at who the Home Secretary is in this country. As you described me, my name is Sajid Javid. I am the Home Secretary in this country.”

And the Home Secretary took aim at the Muslim Council of Britain, who last week wrote to Party Chair Brandon Lewis calling for an investigation into anti-Muslim discrimination in the party.

He said: “The Muslim Council of Britain does not represent Muslims in this country. You find me a group of Muslims who think they are represented by the MCB.

“Secondly I would be very suspicious of anything they’ve got to say, not least because under the last Labour government, in a policy continued by us, we don’t deal with the MCB, and we don’t deal with them because too many of their members have had favourable comments on extremists and thats not acceptable.”

But he admitted Islamophobia does exist in Britain.

He said: “There are issues with anti-Muslim hatred in this country, as are issues with anti-Semitism.

“All kinds of hate crime is wrong on every level. We will fight it and have that strategy to deal with it, and we will listen to anyone who wants to help us in that fight.”

Harun Khan, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain said: “Rather than address the serious concerns raised by our message, Mr Javid has chosen to shoot the messenger. We have identified real weekly cases of Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, which the Party has even acknowledged by suspending members.

"These real concerns of Islamophobia are shared by two Conservative Muslim Peers, as well as voices across the spectrum, many of them Conservatives.

"If the response is to instead attack the Muslim Council of Britain, it sadly indicates that the Party has no interest in dealing with this matter with the seriousness it deserves.”