Addressing all forms of racism is about treating every human being equally and fairly, not giving special treatment to one community over another. Public policy must be grounded in fairness for all.
In 2018, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims, a cross-party forum of MPs and peers that advises Parliament on issues affecting Muslims in the UK, consulted widely and produced a working definition of Islamophobia.
This definition recognised Islamophobia as a form of racism in how it is expressed, with Muslims treated as a homogenous group with particular negative traits and associations.
In essence, Islamophobia means judging, dehumanising, or discriminating against Muslims based on appearance, dress, or faith identity.
Muslim women frequently experience threats and verbal abuse in public spaces, including on public transport, in the streets, and in shops. Common physical assaults include spitting, shoving, slapping, and having their clothing, such as a hijab, forcefully removed.
Considerable energy has been invested in muddying the waters. The Government established a working group chaired by Dominic Grieve KC, attempting to conflate Islamophobia with blasphemy laws or restrictions on free speech.
But let’s be clear, Islamophobia has nothing to do with theology. It is the targeting of individuals or groups based on prejudice or hate towards a perceived Muslim identity.
Some ask why a definition is needed at all. Without defining something, it cannot be effectively detected, monitored, or challenged.
Non-statutory definitions are also practical tools that help tackle issues of racism outside of the legal system, such as through proactive education in schools, equality monitoring, and employment practices to prevent unfair discrimination, hate, and prejudice in the first place.
Since the APPG definition was drafted, more than 800 academics, community groups, parliamentarians, and local authorities have endorsed it. Every major political party adopted it, except the then-governing Conservative Party, which rejected the APPG definition and later dismissed the adviser it had appointed to propose an alternative.
It is therefore deeply disappointing that, upon winning the 2024 General Election, Labour U-turned on its own prior commitment to the APPG definition.
In March this year, Labour Ministers appointed an Independent Working Group – again chaired by Dominic Grieve KC and four independent Muslim experts, to recommend a new definition for review and decision by Ministers. The group submitted its recommendations in early October, but at the time of writing, the Government has yet to publish this or its own response.
Meanwhile, unauthorised civil servants in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have reportedly leaked parts of the recommendations to hostile right-wing outlets – fuelling a wave of corrosive, misinformed and often disingenuous media speculation in the last few weeks.
British Muslims are no strangers to observing double standards in public life and media headlines, but the last few weeks have seen unprecedented levels of gaslighting.
Islamophobia reached record levels in the past year. Muslims have been physically attacked; mosques have been targeted in terror incidents, yet these rarely make front-page news. Violence directed at Muslims has been normalised, even in mainstream media.
Home Office statistics for the year ending March 2025 show Muslims account for 45 percent of all religiously-motivated hate crimes, followed by Jews at 29 percent.
This stark reality makes it self-evident that there is an urgent need for a clear and explicit definition to be adopted by the government and wider British society.
Contrast this with the Government’s swift adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism in 2016, which has since been criticised for its conflation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism.
According to the House of Commons Library, Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary at the time, referred to IHRA’s working definition as important in understanding how antisemitism manifests itself in the 21st century, “as it gives examples of the kind of behaviours which, depending on the circumstances, could constitute antisemitism”. Other definitions of antisemitism also exist, such as the 2020 Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism.
If the UK could adopt the IHRA definition in months, why is defining Islamophobia still unresolved after almost a decade?
A useful litmus test is to imagine these statements applied to any other faith group.
The following real-world headlines and quotes about Muslims have recently appeared in national media and political discourse:
1- Islam has been a problem in Britain for a long time. It’s time to face up to that.
2- Political Islam is a growing problem in this country.
3- Government’s plan for a definition of so-called “Islamophobia” will make the divisions in our society worse, not better.
4- Defining Islamophobia is a really stupid thing.
5- An official definition of Islamophobia is not needed because there are already legal protections for Muslims.
6- Should the Government proceed with the adoption of a definition [of Islamophobia], we advise that this should be subject to a full public consultation so that all the potential risks and benefits can be considered.
7- Islamophobia definition ‘risks undermining terrorism law’.
8- Labour ‘tears up Islamophobia definition’ amid free speech concerns.
9- The lethality of ‘Islamophobia’ accusations.
10- Some supporters of an official Islamophobia definition ‘want to use it to undermine Britain’s counter-terrorism laws and foreign policy’.
For a moment, imagine these lines rewritten with the word Islam replaced by Judaism or Sikhism. Yet when directed at Muslims, such statements are treated as legitimate debate rather than explicit double standards.
The Government must now act with transparency by publishing the Independent Working Group’s recommendations in full. Lost in the noise is the real issue: community safety and equality, not political point-scoring or media narratives.
Until Islamophobia is recognised and defined with the same seriousness as other forms of racism, Britain will continue to preach equality whilst practising double standards.
Source: TRT
