Extra funding to protect British Muslims as tensions rise in the Middle East

Sign up for the View from Westminster e-mail for skilled evaluation straight to your inbox

Get our free View from Westminster e-mail

More than £100 million shall be used to protect Muslim faculties, neighborhood centres and mosques from a rising variety of hate assaults, the dwelling secretary has introduced.

The cash shall be spent on safety measures which embody alarms, fences and CCTV cameras, James Cleverly stated.

It follows an identical package deal of £70 million for Jewish teams, as rising tensions over the struggle in Gaza gasoline divisions in the UK.

In an announcement, Mr Cleverly stated that anti-Muslim hatred “has absolutely no place in our society”.

“We is not going to let occasions in the Middle East be used as an excuse to justify abuse in opposition to British Muslims,” he stated.

The new cash would give “reassurance and confidence to UK Muslims at a time when it is crucially needed”.

Ministers have recently condemned an increase in reported anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hatred. The government was recently accused of stoking tensions after Lee Anderson claimed the London mayor was controlled by “Islamists”.

The former deputy chair of the Conservatives was suspended by the celebration over the remarks, however solely after a delay of virtually a day.

And ministers have nonetheless continued to refuse to say his feedback had been Islamophobic, stating solely that they had been fallacious.

Ministers have additionally suffered a blow after the frontrunner to turn into a brand new adviser on the problem pulled out saying he “couldn’t take” the quantity of abuse he had acquired.

Fiyaz Mughal, who based the organisation Tell MAMA, which appears at anti-Muslim hate, stated the abuse he had suffered for greater than 10 years escalated after his title was linked to the function.

In all the authorities will give £117 million over the subsequent 4 years. The announcement, which comes at the begin of Ramadan, will cowl websites throughout the UK.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat stated: “This funding demonstrates that this government stands firmly against hate crimes, abuse, threats or harassment against British Muslims.

“We proceed to work carefully with policing and neighborhood companions to guarantee the security and safety of British Muslims.”