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Labour veteran Trevor Phillips has defended himself after his suspension over allegations of Islamophobia and accused the party of stifling "healthy debate".

The former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission is facing a probe which could see him expelled from the Labour Party.

Mr Phillips, who is also an anti-racism campaigner, is being investigated over past comments including remarks on Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in northern British towns, according to the Times.

Asked about his prior comments, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Monday that the party has stifled "healthy debate" about people's different values and outlooks.

He said: "I'm surprised about what is and always has been an open and democratic party decides that its members cannot have healthy debate about how we address differences of values and outlooks.

"Let us be clear about this. They say I'm accusing Muslims of being different.

"Well, actually, that's true. Muslims are different and, in many ways, I think that's admirable."

Mr Phillips said it was "nonsense" to define being anti-Islam as racist as he argued Muslims were not part of a race.

He has in the past rallied against the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on British Muslims' move to define Islamophobia - a definition adopted by the Labour Party.

He told the BBC: "My objection is very simple. That definition said, to words of the effect, that Islamophobia is rooted in a kind of racism - expressions of hostility towards Muslimness.

"First of all, Muslims are not a race. My personal hero was Muhammad Ali, before that Malcolm X.

"They became Muslims largely because it is a pan-racial faith. This is not a racial grouping, so describing hostility to them as racial is nonsense."

Asked about his assertion that British Muslims were "becoming a nation within a nation" being adopted by far-right campaigner Tommy Robinson, Mr Phillips replied: "As my grandmother says, just because the devil picks up a tune doesn't mean it is a bad tune."

The Times reported that many of his statements date back years but that Labour's general secretary Jennie Formby suspended him as a matter of urgency to "protect the party's reputation".

Mr Phillips was among 24 public figures who last year declared their refusal to vote for the Labour Party because of its association with anti-Semitism.

In a letter to the Guardian in November, the group said the path to a more tolerant society "must encompass Britain's Jews with unwavering solidarity".

It also said Jeremy Corbyn has "a long record of embracing anti-Semites as comrades".​

A Labour Party spokeswoman said: "The Labour Party takes all complaints about Islamophobia extremely seriously and they are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures, and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken."

Additional reporting by PA.