Rishi Sunak instructed by Tory MP to ‘lastly’ take motion on Islamophobia
Rishi Sunak has been instructed “enough is enough” relating to anti-Muslim hatred by certainly one of his personal MPs.
The Prime Minister was warned by former Tory minister Rehman Chishti that he must do extra to deal with Islamophobia. Mr Chishti recommended Mr Sunak for “rightly” responding to the “shocking and unacceptable” rise in anti-Jewish hatred, which has quickly elevated since Hamas attacked Israel in October.
But he questioned why Islamophobia was not getting extra consideration or funding. In a tense PMQs alternate, he mentioned the Government’s submit for an impartial adviser on Islamophobia had been vacant for over 12 months and requested whether or not Mr Sunak would “finally” take motion.
Addressing Mr Sunak, Mr Chishti mentioned: “The Government has rightly responded to the shocking and unacceptable rise in antisemitism and we saw extra funding in the Autumn Statement. I note that 44% of religiously aggravated motivated offences last year were against the Muslim community yet there was no funding in the Autumn Statement to deal with Islamophobia.
“The Government’s impartial adviser function for Islamophobia has been left vacant for over one 12 months. The Prime Minister is aware of we’ve mentioned these issues a 12 months in the past but no motion has taken place. Prime Minister, sufficient is sufficient with reference to tackling anti-Muslim hatred. Will the Government now lastly take motion?””
Mr Sunak mentioned: “We won’t tolerate anti-Muslim hatred in any form and expect it to be dealt with wherever it occurs. I actually recently met with Tell MAMA, a service that provides support to victims of anti-Muslim hatred, who we have in fact supported with over £6million of funding since its inception and we are in regular dialogue with them. We have also doubled the funding for protective security measures through the protective security for mosques scheme and we will continue to do everything we can to keep our Muslim community safe.”
In his Autumn Statement final week, Jeremy Hunt pledged as much as £7m over the following three years to charities devoted to tackling abuse and supporting victims of antisemitism. “I am deeply concerned about the rise of antisemitism in our country, so I am announcing up to £7 million over the next three years for organisations like the Holocaust Educational Trust to tackle antisemitism in schools and universities,” Mr Hunt instructed the Commons.
