From: fedora@fea.st   
      
   On Fri, 6 Mar 2026 21:47:59 +0000, 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   
   >   
   >I reserve the right to a high degree of dubiety.   
   >   
   >Beware of communists anointing Tsars.   
   >   
   >A few years back the London Mayor anointed one for night life...   
   >https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Lam%C3%A9#London_Night_Czar   
   >   
   >I suppose that for a Mayor who believes alcohol and unsupervised   
   >women are sinful that counts for a success.   
      
      
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