From: julianlzb87@gmail.com   
      
   On 06/03/2026 21:58, Tara wrote:   
   > Julian  wrote:   
   >> On 06/03/2026 21:30, Tara wrote:   
   >>> Julian  wrote:   
   >>>> Britain is to get a new ‘anti-Muslim hostility tsar’ under plans to be   
   >>>> outlined by the government on Monday, which will also include a new   
   >>>> definition of Islamophobia.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The Spectator has been leaked a draft copy of Protecting What Matters, a   
   >>>> document outlining Labour’s new cohesion strategy which is to be   
   >>>> unveiled in a cross government push next week. The 47-page paper   
   >>>> features a crackdown on extremism and names Islamists as the biggest   
   >>>> threat to community cohesion. It also outlines fresh demands that new   
   >>>> arrivals in Britain seek to integrate and speak good English, described   
   >>>> as a ‘fundamental basis for participating in society and an expectation   
   >>>> of those who wish to call the UK home’. It states: ‘Those who come   
   here   
   >>>> must make a genuine effort to integrate into and engage with our shared   
   >>>> way of life.’ The last census found that over a million people could not   
   >>>> speak English well or at all.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The report states clearly that Islamists are responsible for   
   >>>> three-quarters of the police’s counter-terror workload and 94 per cent   
   >>>> of all terrorist deaths in the last 25 years. The plan also rejects   
   >>>> calls, predominantly from British Muslims, for blasphemy laws in the UK.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Following the case of the religious studies teacher at Batley Grammar   
   >>>> school, who was forced into hiding after showing caricatures of the   
   >>>> Prophet Mohammed, the document promises to ‘stand against those who try   
   >>>> to intimidate, threaten and harass others because they are offended by   
   >>>> so-called “blasphemy.” We do not recognise blasphemy law in the UK.’   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Further powers will be established to close extremist charities and   
   >>>> suspend trustees with ‘unspent hate crime convictions’, to   
   ‘strengthen   
   >>>> monitoring’ of non-violent extremism in universities and to exclude hate   
   >>>> preachers from the UK. As part of this, there will be rules to ensure   
   >>>> that ‘public bodies do not confer legitimacy, funding or influence on   
   >>>> extremist groups’.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> But the plans will also raise alarm bells on free speech by outlining   
   >>>> new rules to tackle ‘divisive content’ and ‘ensure trusted news   
   sources   
   >>>> are prominent’. Critics fear these measures will be used to silence   
   >>>> critics of Islamists or even TV channels like GB News which some Labour   
   >>>> people view as too right-wing.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The creation of a ‘special representative on anti-Muslim hostility’ is   
   >>>> likely to give a prominent platform to an activist voice. Their job will   
   >>>> be to ‘champion efforts across the UK to tackle hostility and hatred   
   >>>> directed at Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim’.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Alongside that is a new definition of anti-Muslim hatred, which has been   
   >>>> watered down to avoid defining Muslims as a race, but which will still   
   >>>> condemn ‘the prejudicial stereotyping of Muslims, as part of a   
   >>>> collective group with set characteristics, to stir up hatred against   
   >>>> them, irrespective of their actual opinions, beliefs or actions as   
   >>>> individuals’. Critics think this will create a blasphemy law by the back   
   >>>> door.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Reading the paper highlights the difficult balancing act ministers are   
   >>>> attempting by hailing the way some marchers and campaigners have   
   >>>> embraced displaying the union flag or the English cross of St George   
   >>>> before, a few sentences later, condemning right wing groups for using   
   >>>> them as ‘tools of hate’ in their demonstrations, a ‘misuse of   
   national   
   >>>> symbols to exclude or intimidate’.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The paper paints a picture of a country where traditional cohesion in   
   >>>> communities has broken down by immigration and the use of social media,   
   >>>> which enables people to cluster with like-minded people online rather   
   >>>> than the people they live near. Britain’s ‘historic social cohesion   
   that   
   >>>> has kept us united in the face of adversity’ is now ‘under threat’,   
   it says.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> And the government admits the role mass migration has played in this.   
   >>>> ‘For many living in the UK, the changes brought about by mass migration   
   >>>> have been too much, too quickly, leaving people feeling as thought they   
   >>>> are losing their local and national identity.’ Calling integration ‘a   
   >>>> two way street’, it says calling for ‘respect for different   
   cultures’   
   >>>> and that ‘newcomers have a responsibility to engage with and embrace   
   >>>> what it means to be British’.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The strategy will also seek to protect those who speak out, though it is   
   >>>> unclear precisely how this will combat cancel culture. ‘Many people feel   
   >>>> they cannot air perfectly legitimate concerns about the change they are   
   >>>> seeing in their local communities. There must be space for honest   
   >>>> discussion without assuming bad intentions or policing language.’   
   >>>>   
   >>>> However, it also states that everyone must ‘embrace’ LGBT rights,   
   >>>> opening the door to censure of those whose religious views are hostile   
   >>>> to homosexuality and those who do not embrace trans rights. Ministers   
   >>>> will also float the idea of religious education in the national   
   >>>> curriculum and suggests the government should ‘promote’ religious   
   >>>> education councils.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The paper also goes further than the government has done before to   
   >>>> acknowledge that anti-Jewish hatred is a growing problem in the UK.   
   >>>> ‘Antisemitism is being normalised in many corners of society – from   
   our   
   >>>> schools and universities to workplaces and the NHS,’ it says.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Despite the scale of the problem, the cohesion strategy comes with   
   >>>> little new money. Ministers will announce plans for £800m over ten years   
   >>>> for 40 areas where ‘social cohesion is under pressure,’ plus £750m   
   over   
   >>>> four years for youth, sport, and community infrastructure and a £5.5m   
   >>>> fund to ‘restore local news where it has disappeared’.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> A source close to Steve Reed, the secretary of state for housing,   
   >>>> communities and local government, whose department helped coordinate the   
   >>>> strategy, declined to comment on the leaked paper, but suggested it was   
   >>>> not the final draft. The document, as published, will include a foreword   
   >>>> by the Prime Minister.   
   >>>>   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Tim Shipman   
   >>>>   
   >>>   
   >>> Progress   
   >>   
      
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