Trevor Phillips has claimed Labour is trying to gag members following his shock suspension from the party amid allegations of Islamophobia.
Labour’s general secretary, Jenny Formby, said the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission had his membership suspended as “a matter of urgency” and could be expelled from the party.
The Times reported Phillips – who ruled out voting for Jeremy Corbyn’s outfit at the last election over its failure to deal with anti-Semitism – is being investigated over comments made some years ago, including remarks on Pakistani Muslim men sexually abusing children in northern British towns.
But Phillips has hit back and accused Labour of attempting to restrict members from having a “healthy debate” about how society could “address differences of values”.
The 66-year-old also said it was “nonsense” to define being anti-Islam as racist, arguing that Muslims do not identify as a race.
Writing for the think tank Policy Exchange, Phillips said the party adopting the APPG (all-party parliamentary group) definition of Islamophobia formed the backdrop to his suspension and claimed he was the victim of a “witch-hunt”.
He said: “A year ago a cross party parliamentary group proposed that ‘Islamophobia’ should be defined in broad terms as a ‘kind of racism’ hostile to ‘Muslimness’.
“In a comprehensive pamphlet published by the Policy Exchange think tank, I pointed out that for many, one great attraction of Islam is its pan-racialism; Islam does not belong to any ethnic group.
“I also argued that the vague concept as ‘Muslimness’ rested on the delusion that all adherents of the faith would agree on doctrine, dress and behaviours; this is the progressive equivalent of ‘they all look alike to me’.
“The charges are so outlandish as to bring disrepute on all involved in making them; and I fear they further add to the sense that we, as a party, have badly lost our way.”
- Khalild Mahmood, Labour MP
“It was therefore only a matter of time before this ‘definition’ would inevitably lead to the persecution of individuals who dissented. I never imagined that I myself would be the first political victim of such a witchhunt.”
Answering allegations of Islamophobia, Phillips told the Times there was no suggestion that he had done anything unlawful and “no-one inside or outside the Labour Party has ever suggested that I have broken any rules”.
Labour MP Khalid Mahmood, the country’s first Muslim MP, has also jumped to Phillips’ defence.
He said he learned of Phillips’ suspension with “no small measure of astonishment” and hinted that he believed “internal politics” may be involved.
He added: “The charges are so outlandish as to bring disrepute on all involved in making them; and I fear they further add to the sense that we, as a party, have badly lost our way.”
The MP for Birmingham Perry Barr and shadow Europe minister said he has been “dismayed” that his party chose to adopt what he called a “deeply flawed definition” of Islamophobia, adding that chiefs are “intent on wielding it as a weapon for rooting out ‘difficult’ voices” in Labour.
Phillips said on Monday that the party had sent him an 11-page letter and told him he was forbidden from publishing the details of his suspension.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’m surprised about what is and always has been an open and democratic party deciding 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.”
In the run-up to the general election, 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” and said Jeremy Corbyn has “a long record of embracing anti-Semites as comrades”.
The Muslim Council of Britain has criticised Phillips’ previous comments.
A spokesman said: “Mr Phillips has made incendiary statements about Muslims that would be unacceptable for any other minority. Many of these sweeping generalisations are unfounded, wildly exaggerated and are familiar tropes taken up by the far right.
“He has claimed Muslims do not report terrorism, despite the poll he cited showing Muslims report terrorism more than the general public. He likened placing a Christian girl into a foster care with a Muslim family as akin to ‘child abuse’; and further propagates the othering of Muslims, claiming Muslims are ‘not like us’, ‘see the world differently’ and are a ‘nation within a nation’.
“The impact of Mr Phillips claims from a privileged vantage point is dangerous, providing licence to far-right ideologues such as Tommy Robinson who have seized upon these remarks.”
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.”