From: tsm@fastmail.ca   
      
   Julian  wrote:   
   > 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   
      
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