Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what definition of anti-Muslim hatred his Department uses.
Answered by Lee Rowley
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 and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it. We have funded Tell MAMA, a service that supports victims of anti-Muslim hatred, with over £6 million since their inception in 2012.
In light of the rise in anti-Muslim hate incidents being reported, the Government has increased Tell MAMA’s funding to £1 million this year. This funding will provide additional resource to the service they are providing to support victims of anti-Muslim hatred.
The department has given careful consideration to the use of language and definitions. The definition of Islamophobia as proposed by the APPG is not in line with the Equality Act 2010, which defines race in terms of colour, nationality and national or ethnic origins. The term anti-Muslim hatred is a more precise term which better reflects UK hate crime legislation.
The department is seeking the views and perspectives of domestic and international leaders and experts in this field to explore how religious hatred is experienced by British communities.
Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester Rusholme)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he plans to develop a definition of anti-Muslim hatred.
Answered by Lee Rowley
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 and the Government continues to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it. We have funded Tell MAMA, a service that supports victims of anti-Muslim hatred, with over £6 million since their inception in 2012.
In light of the rise in anti-Muslim hate incidents being reported, the Government has increased Tell MAMA’s funding to £1 million this year. This funding will provide additional resource to the service they are providing to support victims of anti-Muslim hatred.
The department has given careful consideration to the use of language and definitions. The definition of Islamophobia as proposed by the APPG is not in line with the Equality Act 2010, which defines race in terms of colour, nationality and national or ethnic origins. The term anti-Muslim hatred is a more precise term which better reflects UK hate crime legislation.
The department is seeking the views and perspectives of domestic and international leaders and experts in this field to explore how religious hatred is experienced by British communities.
Asked by: Imran Hussain (Labour - Bradford East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Autumn Statement 2023 on 22 November 2023, Official Report, column 326, what funding he provides to tackle Islamophobia in the UK.
Answered by Laura Trott - Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Government is committed to the right of individuals to freely practise their religion. That is why in June 2023, building on the work of the Places of Worship Protective Security Funding Scheme, the Security Minister pledged £24.5 million of funding in 2023-24 to protect mosques and Muslim faith schools through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme, providing security measures like CCTV and intruder alarms. In light of the crisis in Israel and Gaza, the Home Secretary announced in October that the Government will grant an additional £3 million to the Community Security Trust to support Jewish communities in the UK. At the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced that this would be extended to 2024-25. The Home Office has also increased available funding for the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme by 20%
The Government is also taking strides to combat ethnic discrimination and hate crime. Through the Online Safety Act 2023, we are compelling social media companies to tackle discriminatory content posted on their platforms. The also Government provides £300,000 in annual grant funding to the National Online Hate Crime Hub, which provides expert advice to police investigating hate crimes.
Asked by: Dan Jarvis (Labour - Barnsley North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of provisions to ensure the safety and wellbeing of (a) Jewish and (b) Muslim students on university campuses.
Answered by Robert Halfon
It has been deeply concerning to see the rises both in antisemitism and in Islamophobia since the 7 October terrorist attacks against Israel. Universities should be welcoming and inclusive environments. Higher education providers have a responsibility to take a zero-tolerance approach to any form of racial or religious harassment. They have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to adopt robust policies and procedures that enable them to investigate and swiftly address reports of racism.
Given the particularly severe impact on Jewish students, the Secretary of State and I wrote to all schools, colleges and universities, urging them to respond swiftly to hate-related incidents and actively reassure Jewish students that that they can study without fear of harassment or intimidation. On 5 November we published a five-point plan detailing further action to protect Jewish students in higher education, the details of the plan can be found here: https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/11/05/how-were-protecting-jewish-students-on-university-campuses/.
The department continues to engage both with Jewish and with Muslim groups, including the Union of Jewish Students and Tell MAMA, and actively monitors incidents affecting both communities. The department also welcomes the guidance produced by Universities UK, which focuses on tackling Islamophobia: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/what-we-do/policy-and-research/publications/tackling-islamophobia-and-anti-muslim.
The department has reminded providers of their obligations under the Prevent duty, where they should be working to prevent people from being drawn into or supporting terrorism. Department officials have assessed evidence of antisemitism and racial hatred linked to incidents at English universities. There is an online "Reporting Extremism" form where members of the public can raise concerns to the Department directly. Where concerns arise, officials have reached out to relevant universities to understand what actions they have taken, including reporting issues to the police where appropriate.
Asked by: Naz Shah (Labour - Bradford West)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities, how much funding his Department has provided to tackle islamophobia since 2010.
Answered by Lee Rowley
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Questions UIN 2961 on 29 November 2023, Question UIN 201247 on 23 October 2023 and Question UIN 117512 on 16 January 2023. As set out previously, antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred have no place in our society and we will continue to fund programmes that help tackle all forms of religious hatred.
Mentions:
1: Dawn Butler (Lab - Brent Central) funding to tackle antisemitism, it did not include an announcement of additional funding to tackle Islamophobia - Speech Link
Mentions:
1: Baroness Warsi (Con - Life peer) Foundation—which has associations with think tanks in the United States that are peddling anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia—and - Speech Link
2: Baroness Sherlock (Lab - Life peer) Baroness, Lady Hussein-Ece, said, Muslim women—especially hijabi women—are very often on the front line of Islamophobia - Speech Link
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool Walton)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to tackle (a) antisemitism and (b) Islamophobia.
Answered by Lee Rowley
As set out previously, antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred are abhorrent and have no place in our community. No one should be a victim of hatred because of who they are. Since the appalling terrorist attacks of 7 October in Israel we have seen a sharp increase in reported antisemitic incidents here in the UK. We have also seen a rise in anti-Muslim hatred and other racist and religiously motivated incidents.
The Government has announced an additional £3 million for the CST to provide additional security at Jewish schools, synagogues and other sites. Tell MAMA are our key partner working to monitor and support victims of anti-Muslim hatred and we have allocated over £6 million since 2012.
Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help reduce cases of (a) anti-Semitism and (b) Islamophobia on university campuses.
Answered by Robert Halfon
This government condemns in the strongest possible terms any form of racial or religiously motivated harassment or violence. In the context of the conflict in the Middle East, there have been unprecedented rises in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents, which are abhorrent on every level. Universities should be welcoming and inclusive environments and higher education (HE) providers have a responsibility to take a zero tolerance approach to any form of racial or religious harassment. They have clear responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to adopt robust policies and procedures that enable them to investigate and swiftly address reports of racism.
The Community Security Trust has reported an unprecedented rise in antisemitic incidents, which is totally unacceptable.
To support Jewish students, the Secretary of State for Education and I wrote to all universities on 11 October 2023, urging them to respond swiftly to hate-related incidents and actively reassure Jewish students that they can study without fear of harassment or intimidation. I wrote again to Vice Chancellors on 16 November 2023, emphasising that they must use disciplinary measures wherever appropriate, highlighting the importance of police engagement, and reiterating that student visas could be suspended where a foreign national is found to have committed or incited acts of racial hatred. This was one of the key actions set out in the five-point plan for tackling antisemitism in HE, which was published on 5 November 2023. The plan also involves:
On 22 November 2023, the government announced in the Autumn Statement an additional £7 million over three years to tackle antisemitism in education. The Quality Seal will be the cornerstone of this package for universities, providing a framework of measures that will make clear what good practice is in tackling antisemitism in HE, and making sure that universities are a safe and welcoming space for Jewish students and staff, as for all students and staff.
Anti-Muslim hatred is equally abhorrent and has no place in our society. No one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their religion or belief and the government is continuing to work with police and community partners to monitor and combat it.
This government is proud to have funded Tell MAMA, a service that supports victims of anti-Muslim hatred, with over £6 million since their inception in 2012. Tell MAMA’s work has been recognised internationally as a good practice model in recording and monitoring anti-Muslim hate. The organisation has documented 2,010 Islamophobic incidents in the UK between 7 October 2023 and 7 February 2024. This represents a steep rise from the 600 it recorded for the same period the year previously. The government will not tolerate religious hatred towards Muslims and that is why the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities put in place an extra £4.9 million of protective security funding for Muslim mosques, faith schools and communities.
The new Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides physical protective security measures (such as CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing) in both mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. Protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. Headteachers of eligible schools were contacted directly by the Home Office in January 2023 to register their interest.
Lastly, as my right hon. Friend, Minister Buchan stated on 4 March 2024, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities plan to appoint a new independent adviser on anti-Muslim hatred, and it will update the house shortly.