Mick Hartley

Shadow equalities minister Claire Coutinho, in the Times, on Labour’s proposed Islamophobia ban:

Has the government learnt nothing? It is set to announce its new definition of Islamophobia under a rebrand of “anti-Muslim hostility”. The definition apparently seeks to stop the “prejudicial stereotyping and racialisation” of Muslims or the “creation of practices and biases” that disadvantage Muslims within our institutions.

These woolly terms will give those who wish to shut down legitimate criticism of Islam the means to do so, whilst missing the bigger problem.

Sara Sharif might be alive today if the authorities hadn’t been too scared of being branded racist to ask why an eight-year-old child had suddenly started wearing a religious head covering. She had been forced to wear it by her father who wanted to hide his abuse behind her hijab. He went on to murder her.

Councils and police forces failed to protect vulnerable girls from rape and abuse by predominantly Pakistani Muslim grooming gangs, again, because of fears of being called racist. The security guard who had a “bad feeling” about the Manchester Arena bomber didn’t approach him because he, too, was scared of appearing prejudiced.

We have created an environment in which our public services worry more about the reputational damage of causing low-level offence than they do about preventing serious harm. The public are rightly horrified by these failures and undoubtedly the war in Gaza has further exposed divisions here at home. However, it is grossly naive to believe that creating a separate tier of protections for one religious group is going to lead this country to greater unity.

Do you know what would reduce prejudice and resentment ? No more Jews being slaughtered in synagogues. No more protests blocking our streets calling to “globalise the intifada”. No more turning a blind eye to the rape of young women and girls.

There’s a strong sense here of Labour playing to the Muslim vote. Calculated political cynicism in the guise of progressive enlightenment – it’s all too familiar with this government.

In the pursuit of this definition, Labour — with one eye on the electoral threat from sectarianism — may commit the greatest harm to moderate Muslims by upending one of our deepest British values: that we are all held equal before the law.

Why single out one group for protection – one religion – when we already have laws against spreading hatred? And particularly now, when Islamic-inspired ideologies are behind the appalling rise in antisemitism. There’s never a good time for this, but now is certainly not a good time.