Trevor Phillips, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission [EHRC], has been suspended from the Labour Party pending investigation over alleged islamophobic comments dating back several years, according to the Times.
The complaints concern Phillips' take on sexual abuse scandals in the north of England, where Pakistani Muslim men were found to have been abusing children over a number of years.
The complaints also centre around further comments about some Muslims choosing not to wear a poppy on Remembrance Sunday, and sympathies shown in an opinion poll toward the "motives" of the Charlie Hebdo attackers by some Muslims.
The report acknowledges that many of the comments date back some years, but Labour general secretary Jennie Formby suspended Phillips to “protect the party’s reputation”.
A Labour spokesperson said that the party takes allegations of Islamophobia “extremely seriously” and that such complaints are "fully investigated" in line with party procedure.
If deemed guilty of anti-Muslim prejudice, Phillips may find himself expelled from the party completely.
The EHRC, of which Phillips was founding chair, is currently investigating allegations of anti-Semitism within the Labour party.
Phillips himself was notably among 24 individuals in 2019 who told the Guardian that they would not vote for Labour in the wake of the anti-Semitism scandal.
Phillips now chairs Index on Censorship, a campaign group for freedom of expression.
Speaking to BBC Radio Four, he doubled down on his sentiment that Muslims were "different", saying: "Well, actually, that's true. The point is Muslims are different and in many ways I think that is admirable.”
He also hinted that his suspension would not lead to him changing his views, saying: "Frankly, it would be a bit odd if I suddenly decided because I had been kicked out of the club, I couldn't express my beliefs."
Phillips took aim at Labour for the furore over his comments from years before, saying: "I am kind of surprised that 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.”
He then denounced Labour's decision to sign-up to the definition of Islamophobia that was agreed by an all-party parliamentary group as "nonsense", on the grounds that it purports Muslims to be a race of people, which Phillips believes they are not.
Phillips explained: “My objection is very simple. That definition said...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.”
