Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps she is taking to help protect Ahmadiyya Muslims from hate crimes.

All forms of hatred and intolerance are completely unacceptable, including that directed at Ahmadiyya Muslims. We are committed to protecting the rights of individuals to freely practice their religion and we will not tolerate Islamophobia in any form.

The Government has established a working group to provide a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, advising government and other bodies on how to best understand, quantify and define prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime targeted against Muslims. Alongside drawing on their own expertise, members will engage widely to ensure the definition accounts for the variety of backgrounds and experiences of Muslim communities across the United Kingdom.

This announcement builds on existing work with police and community partners to ensure effective monitoring of Islamophobia. The Government has worked with the police to fund True Vision, an online hate crime reporting portal, designed so that victims of hate crime do not have to visit a police station to report. We have also made up to £1 million of funding available this year to monitor Islamophobia and provide support to victims.