Labour’s suspension of Trevor Phillips: a terrible mistake?
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Blake Coe argues against Trevor Phillips’s recent suspension from the Labour Party.
Trevor Phillips; the anti-racism campaigner, former chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and a regular presence on our TV screens, has been suspended from the Labour party for alleged Islamophobia.
An 11 page document of supporting evidence has been produced, citing positions Phillips has taken and comments he has made dating back many years; many of which have been taken out of context and interpreted in the most uncharitable way possible.
Whether you agree or disagree with what he has said, go one step beyond the headlines and you’ll find the views that Trevor Phillips has no “-ism” or “-phobia” of any kind. It is a terrible mistake for Labour to suspend him.
First, suspending the former chair of the body currently investigating labour for antisemitism will raise further questions as to how seriously labour is taking the issue. It seems a bold and ill-advised move for that reason alone.
More importantly, it blurs the lines between intolerance of intolerance with intolerance itself. Figures such as Trevor Phillips and Maajid Nawaz, both regulars on sky’s The Pledge, are open minded liberals, who challenge xenophobia wherever they see it.
This includes, for example, having free and frank discussions on research that suggests higher levels of regressive social attitudes amongst British Muslims than the population at large; as Phillips did in a 2016 documentary. He draws a razor sharp and vital distinction between challenging these views properly and sensibly, and very real anti-Muslim xenophobia. For the Labour party to suspend Trevor Phillips is to confuse these two radically different attitudes to Britain’s Muslim community. And it is dangerous.
It confuses those who challenge bigotry in whatever form it takes, even when it comes from a minority that is often a victim of it, with bigots themselves. It leaves those who are concerned about the issues Trevor Phillips and Maajid Nawaz discuss feeling ignored, and accused of being something they are not.
People’s concerns on this subject are not going to go away, but as long as they are demonised within mainstream political parties, I fear that people will increasingly turn to Tommy Robinson and Katie Hopkins style xenophobia; especially if they are allowed to be seen as the only ones addressing the issue. Labour’s move, far from fighting islamophobia, encourages intolerance and the extremes on all sides
I hate to see anything that worsens these divisions in our country, and it is in this light that I read the news of Trevor Phillips’ suspension from the labour party with deep regret.
Pi Opinion content does not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial team, Pi Media society, Students’ Union UCL or University College London. We aim to publish opinions from across the student body — if you read anything you would like to respond to, get in touch via email.