Boris Johnson has confirmed that he has watered down his apparent plans for an inquiry into Islamophobia within the Conservative party — and is looking instead at an “investigation into all types of prejudice and discrimination”.



The party also declined to say on Thursday when the probe would be held, saying the timing would be guided by the government’s review into a definition of Islamophobia.

It comes after Labour MP Tan Dhesi made a powerful speech in the House of Commons, calling on Johnson to commit to an investigation and demanding an apology over his “derogatory and racist” remarks in newspaper articles.

During the leadership hustings, Johnson appeared to commit to supporting an external investigation into anti-Muslim hatred in the party if they became PM.

Sajid Javid, then home secretary, asked his rivals whether they would agree to holding an inquiry into the issue. All of the other candidates, including Johnson, nodded or voiced their agreement.

Javid, who is now Johnson’s chancellor, said then that people were “right to have concerns about growing anti-Muslim hatred in our country”.



However, Johnson then appeared to downgrade the inquiry to a general investigation in June, and weeks later, Tory party chair James Cleverly refused to confirm whether it would be specific to Islamophobia.

A Conservative spokesperson told BuzzFeed News: “The party is working to study options for an investigation into all types of prejudice and discrimination, which would include reviewing how we can further improve the party’s disciplinary processes.

“The timings and details of any such investigation would be guided by the government’s review into a definition of Islamophobia.”

Later at a press conference, Johnson said it would be a “general inquiry into all manner of racism and hate crime”, adding: “We have a zero tolerance policy towards Islamophobia and all manner of hate crime and prejudice within the Conservative party as you can imagine.”

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said the statement was disappointing and a specific inquiry was urgently needed. A spokesperson said: “The Conservative party’s approach to Islamophobia has thus far been one of denial and obfuscation.

“Let’s be as clear as possible: The Conservative party has a specific problem with Islamophobia — it makes sense to have a specific inquiry looking at this. There is no trust in the Conservative party for it to conduct this inquiry itself — it should be done independently. The party claims to act swiftly so an inquiry should not be kicked into the long grass.”