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A Tory official has quit the party after he witnessed what he said was Islamophobia among members.

Kyle Pedley resigned as a local party officer and Tory council candidate in Stourbridge after saying he had witnessed a Muslim member face a grilling over his religious practices.

He told the BBC he had been present during an interview when the man - who was seeking to be selected as a Tory council candidate - was asked how many times a day he prayed and how often he went to the mosque.

Local Tory officers then discussed between themselves whether "we need an Asian", he said.

Mr Pedley said he had complained twice to the Conservative Party about the incident but had received no response.

(Image: BBC)

A pledge for an independent inquiry into Islamophobia have been kicked into the long grass by Boris Johnson , who once compared Muslim women wearing a niqab to letterboxes.

Explaining why he had decided to leave the party, Mr Pedley told the BBC : "In my first meeting as an officer, a selection meeting, we interviewed a candidate.

"He put forward a very compelling case, he spoke about his conservative principles, his background, his experience in the ward he was going for as a council candidate.

"As soon as his two-minute pitch ended he was faced with a barrage of questioning which was factored around one thing and one thing alone, and that was his religion and his race. It was, 'Are you really a Muslim? Do you pray five times a day? How many times do you go to the mosque? How many times a year do you go to the mosque? How many Muslims do you even think there are in the ward?"

(Image: BBC)

He added: "I just sat there aghast - completely aghast. Immediately as he went out of the room the first topic of conversation was not about his merit, was not about his suitability for the role - it was essentially along the lines of 'Do we need an Asian? Will the Asians even come out and vote?'. That's almost ad verbatim the discussion that followed when the candidate went out the room."

Harun Khan, Secretary General of the the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “The barrage of questioning the prospective candidate faced solely due to their Muslimness is unacceptable.

"The local party must be suspended immediately whilst an investigation takes place.

“This is yet another example demonstrating how the Conservative Party has proven itself to be fertile breeding ground for Islamophobia.

"What more needs to happen for the party to acknowledge the problem?

“As the General Election draws closer, many British Muslims will want to vote for the Conservatives, as they have done before.

"We fear many will be held back by the systemic Islamophobia that exists in the party, and will remain sceptical of claims of an anti-racist Conservative Party.

"It now must accept responsibility, commit to an independent inquiry into Islamophobia, and genuinely seek to tackle anti-Muslim racism in its ranks.”