Baroness Warsi: Islamophobia is bad for Britain

The 2011 Demos report found that 83% of Muslims were proud to be British compared to 79% of the national average. This makes British Muslims one of the most patriotic groups within British society, yet despite this, negative perception of British Muslims is increasing.

Baroness Warsi, one of the most prominent Muslim woman is British politics, is expected to give a speech today about the rising tide in Islamophobia. According to unpublished research, less than 1 in 4 people believe that following Islam is compatible with the British way of life. The research also shows that the majority of the country believes that Islam is a ‘threat’ to western civilisation.

Baroness Warsi will highlight this research in her speech, in which she is expected to warn that “Underlying, unfounded mistrust” of Muslims is in itself fuelling extremism. She will also cite figures from the association of Chief Police Officers, which show that 50-60% of all religious hate crimes reported to the police are against Muslims.

Baroness Warsi has previous warned that Islamophobia “Had passed the dinner table test”, she said ‘anti-Muslim sentiment had become so socially acceptable, it could be found even in the most civilised of settings’. The Baroness was heavily criticised for making this statement by the media, she claimed that many in the media denied that this problem existed, while others said talking about this subject was ‘dangerous’.

Negative perceptions of Muslims are higher now than in 2008, research carried out by Pew in 2008, showed that 23% of Britons had negative associations of Muslims. Last year, Mehdi Hasan wrote in the Guardian that attacks on Muslims in public life are now out of control. Speaking from personal experience, Mr Hasan claims to suffer from personal abuse daily, he was accused of being an ‘Islamist’, ‘Jihadist’ and an ‘extremist’. He has also been ‘accused’ of being ‘pro-Iranian’ by the American-TV network Fox News.

Not enough has been done to combat it, Baroness Warsi is expected to warn and politicians need to tackle Islamophobia.

Anti-Muslim hatred is form of prejudice and there should be no place in Britain for this prejudice”

- she will say. She will also cite British Muslim success stories such as Mo Farah and examples of her own family, who served alongside British soldiers in both World Wars.

She will pledge further government support for combating Islamophobia, saying:

Let’s prove that we once again can rise to the challenge and stamp out this new and rising form of prejudice. There should be no place in Britain for this prejudice”.

Usman Butt