Asked by
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their position on
adopting a formal definition of Islamophobia.
The Minister of State, Home Office and Department for Levelling
Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
The Government remain committed to acting against Islamophobia in
all its forms. We utterly condemn the prejudice, discrimination
and hatred directed towards British Muslims due to their faith.
While we are considering definitions of Islamophobia, this in no
way restrains our ability to monitor, prosecute and punish those
perpetrating religiously motivated hate crime. We have provided
Tell MAMA with £4 million over the last five years to monitor
anti-Muslim hate crime and to support victims.
(Con)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for his response. I first
raised this matter in your Lordships’ House on 11 July 2019. We
were told then that the Government agree that there needs to be a
definition and that two advisers would be appointed. One adviser
was appointed more than two years ago and nothing tangible has
been done since. The Muslim community is concerned about issues
relating to Islamophobia, and would ask that a second adviser now
be appointed and their terms of reference agreed, which must
include consultation with the community. We need to do this
without any further delay and to commence the process.
(Con)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend for raising the concerns of the
Muslim community, for his contribution to how we tackle the issue
of Islamophobia and for his advice on how best to proceed. We
remain committed to tackling Islamophobia where it exists across
our communities, and we will continue to consider this issue with
the utmost seriousness.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Government’s own hate crime statistics show that
nearly half of all recorded religious hate crimes were against
Muslims. What specific urgent steps have the Government taken to
end this abuse and will the Minister commit to working with
Muslim groups to ensure urgent progress?
(Con)
My Lords, it is quite correct to say “nearly half”—around 45% of
religiously motivated hate crime was against Muslims. As I
mentioned in my Answer, we provided Tell MAMA £4 million over the
last five years to monitor anti-Muslim hate crimes and support
victims. We have also awarded £1.8 million through the faith,
race and hate crime grant scheme to support established community
groups and civil society organisations to boost shared values and
tackle religiously and racially motivated hate crime.
(LD)
My Lords, the Minister has acknowledged that the Home Office’s
own figures show that 45% of all recent recorded religious hate
crimes in England and Wales targeted British Muslims, but he has
not yet said why the Government are so reluctant and are dragging
their feet over coming up with a clear definition of
Islamophobia. Why have they refused to do this? Is he aware that
it is mainly Muslim women who are being targeted, because of the
way they dress? Young people are being targeted and bullied in
schools and on the streets. Given the scale of this problem, and
given the rise in far-right extremism, can the Minister tell me
what actual action, besides funding an organisation to monitor
it, the Government will take to reassure the 3 million British
Muslims of their commitment to tackling hatred, and the violent
crimes and discrimination they are experiencing?
(Con)
My Lords, we recognise the seriousness of this, but we also
recognise the point made by in the other place that
there are issues with the term “Islamophobia”. It has been
weaponised by particular groups to tackle free speech. We
recognise that it is important to establish a definition, but as
he himself says, this is a difficult thing to solve and the first
principle is to do no harm. We will proceed slowly and carefully
in order to get this right.
(Con)
My Lords, I think the House will be united against anybody who
discriminates against somebody on their beliefs, but I will
follow up on the last question about what exactly we mean by
“Islamophobia”. I understand that it means fear of Islam. Why
should one be frightened of one of the great religions of the
world? It is fair enough to be frightened of the people who blew
up the Manchester Arena or whatever, but surely not of Islam
itself. I think the Minister is on my side in this: could we
please be absolutely clear what it is that we are trying to
do?
(Con)
My Lords, part of the difficulty of adopting some of the
definitions that are being proposed, including that proposed by
the APPG, is that they effectively conflate anti-Muslim hatred
and Islamophobia with race. They also do not deal with issues
around sectarianism. I completely agree that we want to tackle
prejudice that discriminates against people based on who they
are.
(CB)
My Lords, a phobia is a fear. An irrational fear of Muslims is
best countered by leaders of the community explaining that
discrimination against women and violent attitudes to other
faiths have nothing to do with Islam. Will the Minister agree
with a previous government statement that all faiths and beliefs
should be given equal protection, and that giving special
consideration to one or two groups at the expense of others is
totally contrary to the Government’s levelling-up agenda?
(Con)
My Lords, I can give that assurance. We must provide our faiths
and beliefs, particularly a religion such as Islam, with the same
protections as all other important religions, but we must not
make the mistake of conflating religion with race, as I said in
the previous answer.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, it is crucial that we distinguish between aberrant
anti-Muslim bigotry and the highly contentious concept of
Islamophobia which threatens free speech for fear of it being
labelled Islamophobic. Does the Minister acknowledge this
chilling effect for liberal Muslims, as is well described in the
Don’t Divide Us film “‘Islamophobia!’ The Accusation that
Silences Dissent”, muting any criticism of Islam as a religion
and even muting critiques of political Islamism, however
dangerous? Does the Minister accept the nervousness of
politicians from all parties in supporting the Batley Grammar
School teacher who was forced into hiding under shouts of
“Islamophobic”, effectively allowing a default blasphemy law to
be snuck in for fear of being called Islamophobic?
(Con)
My Lords, I do recognise that issue and I was trying to point
that out in the responses I gave to previous supplementary
questions. There is no doubt that the term “Islamophobia” is used
as a heckler’s veto to shut down alternative opinions. We need to
come up with a way forward that does not compromise free speech,
and that is absolutely what we are committed to doing.
(Non-Afl)
Imam Qari Asim, whom the Government appointed to assist with this
in 2019, has been a magnificent ally in the fight
against anti-semitism and had
a huge impact in West Yorkshire on Covid vaccinations in the
Muslim community. Would it not be in the Government’s interests
to find more work for Qari Asim to do?
(Con)
My Lords, as someone who has spent time with and engaged with
Qari Asim—I met him in my previous role as Faith Minister—I
recognise that he has much to contribute and I am sure we will
continue to make best use of his undoubted reputation and track
record.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, Islamophobia is a real problem in the UK. Prejudice
against Islam must be taken very seriously. The Government are
certainly proceeding very slowly—there is no question about
that—as highlighted by the noble Lord, . Can the Minister confirm that
it is the Government’s intention to adopt a definition, or are
they not planning to do so? It is very easy, either way.
(Con)
My Lords, I always thank the noble Lord for providing me with an
easy question. Of course we want to work on establishing a
definition that can be adopted, but I want the House to recognise
that this is not a straightforward matter and will take time.
(Non-Afl)
My Lords, do the Government recognise that in any attempt to
elucidate a formal definition of Islamophobia, religion and not
race must be the central tenet? I agree with the noble Lord’s
earlier response. Will the Minister give a personal assurance to
the noble Lord, , me and others that he will do
everything he can to resolve this as a matter of urgency?
(Con)
My Lords, I can give the assurance that we are tackling this as a
matter of urgency. I completely agree with the point made about
the need not to conflate race with religion. We need to get the
definition of Islamophobia right.
