Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with counter-terrorism policing units about online reports of threats to kill directed at mosques and Muslim communities.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at Muslim communities. The Government is committed to safeguarding the right to practise faith freely and safely, including at places of worship.
While we do not disclose details of operational discussions, the Home Secretary regularly meets Counter Terrorism Policing to discuss current threats and risks.
We have robust legislation to address threatening, abusive and harassing behaviour, including laws against inciting racial and religious hatred. Online hate is also a priority illegal harm under the Online Safety Act 2023, which places legal duties on platforms to proactively prevent and remove such content, and to take other steps to reduce abuse on their platforms.
We continue to support the police in taking strong action against those who seek to harm or intimidate communities.
Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what support they are providing to mosques and Islamic centres to strengthen security following recent vandalism, desecration, and threats of violence.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at Muslim communities and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.
The Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship and community centres. We regularly work closely with the police to assess threats and review the protections in place for communities.
The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides protective security measures, such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing, to mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. These protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. We have made up to £29.4 million available for this important work in 2025/26.
Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the recent series of attacks on mosques across the UK in August and September.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at Muslim communities and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.
The Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship and community centres. We regularly work closely with the police to assess threats and review the protections in place for communities.
The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides protective security measures, such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing, to mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. These protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. We have made up to £29.4 million available for this important work in 2025/26.
Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the risks to community cohesion and national security posed by recent attacks on places of worship.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
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 is committed to protecting the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship and community centres. We regularly work closely with the police to assess threats and review the protections in place for communities.
In 2025/26, up to £50.9 million is available to protect faith communities. This includes £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme and for security at Muslim faith schools, and £3.5 million for the places of worship and associated faith community centres of all other faiths.
In addition, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is undertaking work to develop a more strategic approach to supporting communities and societal resilience more broadly.
Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon’s supporter network made threats to kill Muslims; and whether any investigations have been conducted as a result of those reports.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
This Government takes extremism seriously and we are committed to ensuring we have the required tools and powers needed to address this issue. Efforts to counter extremism span a broad range of Government and law enforcement activity and we must persist in our efforts to challenge extremist narratives, disrupt the activity of radicalising groups, and directly tackle the causes of radicalisation.
Where the actions of individuals cross a legal threshold, the police will investigate and bring charges where there is evidence to support this.
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 Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of current safeguards at social media companies in detecting AI-generated disinformation targeting minority communities.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The Online Safety Act gives services duties to protect all UK users from illegal content, including illegal AI-generated disinformation. These protections apply to all users, including minority communities who are often disproportionately targeted by harmful online content.
Ofcom’s illegal content codes of practice strengthen the safeguards by requiring services to reduce exposure to illegal content. With Ofcom, we are monitoring the implementation of the Act and platforms’ compliance.
This Government recognises the challenges of detecting AI-generated content and is partnering with industry and academia to support technical innovation.
Asked by: Baroness Warsi (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask His Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with technology companies regarding preventing foreign governments from using artificial intelligence to run online disinformation campaigns in the United Kingdom.
Answered by Lord Vallance of Balham - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The government engages regularly with technology companies to make clear their responsibility to keep users safe.
The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope companies to tackle illegal content, including state-sponsored disinformation that meets the threshold of the Foreign Interference Offence. Where such content is generated using artificial intelligence, it would be captured as the Act applies regardless of how the content is produced.
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.