Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have held with faith leaders regarding recent Islamophobic hate crimes against Muslim communities and mosques since August.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government is committed to building a Britain where all communities feel safe, and where the contributions of people of faith and belief, including Muslims, are warmly welcomed. The government protects the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship. There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at places of worship and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.
The government works with partners to combat religiously motivated hatred, including by taking steps to safeguard Muslim places of worship and faith schools, providing £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme. We are providing funding for the British Muslim Trust to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and support victims. The government has also established an independent working group to advise government on a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia.
Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to commission research into the scale and effect of Islamophobic disinformation originating from foreign states on public attitudes in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
At present, the government does not have plans to commission research specifically on the impact of Islamophobic disinformation on public attitudes. However, the government remains committed to addressing religiously motivated hate crime and promoting social cohesion.
Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact on community cohesion in England and Wales of foreign-backed Islamophobic online disinformation campaigns.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Anti-Muslim hatred is abhorrent and has no place in our society, no one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their religion or belief. The Government has established an independent working group to advise government on a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, and how to best understand, quantify and define prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime targeted against Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim. The British Muslim Trust will also receive funding to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and support victims.
Furthermore, we are committed to bridging divisions between communities and challenging hatred and that is why we have launched the Plan for Neighbourhoods programme, providing £5bn over 10 years to support up to 250 places which will help build strong, resilient and integrated communities. We know that malign actors deliberately seek to amplify hateful and divisive narratives online to influence audiences, including in the UK. For this reason, The Foreign Interference Offence has been added as a priority offence in the Online Safety Act, meaning all in-scope companies must take systemic action against illegal state-sponsored disinformation and interference online.
Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish all aspects of the legal advice submitted to them on the formulation of a new definition of extremism, which was published on 14 March.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne
In line with the practice of successive administrations, legal advice is not normally disclosed.