Susan Hall became member a day after an exposé about its contents – much of which is directed at Sadiq Khan

• Tory staff running network of anti-Ulez Facebook groups riddled with racism and abuse

Susan Hall, the Tory candidate for London mayor, has joined a Facebook group which contains Islamophobic hate speech and abusive comments about her opponent Sadiq Khan, the day after an exposé about its contents.

Khan told the Guardian these revelations “could have a direct impact on not just my safety but the safety of my family and staff”.

A YouTube video alleging that “Islamists” were “taking over Britain”.

Abuse towards Khan, including a post that read: “Seriously can’t believe Khan hasn’t been taken out yet … if dark forces can take out Princess Diana I’m sure they can take out this money grabbing little parasite”.

Examples of vandalism: one user shared a photo of an enforcement van with its tyres slashed, noting “two flat tyres and sprayed camera”. Another user responded: “Well done to whoever that was”.

Numerous Islamophobic comments, including one commenter calling Khan a “terrorist sympathiser”, and another saying that the London mayor “will see a big upsurge in public feelings and possibly major riots, mosques burnt down and innocent Muslims unable to walk the streets”.

Continue reading...

Kids pausing their football so a friend can pray; theology chats over lunch – I’ve seen the richness that religious diversity brings to school life

A Muslim student at Michaela community school in Brent, north-west London, has lost a high court challenge to the school’s ban on prayer rituals. As a Muslim secondary schoolteacher, I have to say I am disappointed – but not surprised.

The appeal was lost on the grounds that the school declares itself secular. This is something the headteacher, Katharine Birbalsingh, insists all students and parents know when applying. In the written judgment dismissing the student’s case, Mr Justice Linden went as far as to say that: “The claimant at the very least impliedly accepted, when she enrolled at the school, that she would be subject to restrictions on her ability to manifest her religion.”

Nadeine Asbali is a secondary school teacher in London and the author of Veiled Threat: On Being Visibly Muslim in Britain

Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

Continue reading...

A class about free speech was cynically exploited by activists to incite fury in a local community

Three years ago, on 25 March 2021, a teacher from Batley Grammar School (BGS) in West Yorkshire was forced into hiding after a religious studies class he gave led to protests from Muslim parents and to death threats . Today, that incident has been largely forgotten. Except by the teacher. He can’t forget it because, extraordinarily, he and his family are still in hiding. Equally extraordinarily, little is said about this.

The debate about the events at BGS, like many about Islam, blasphemy and offence, has been framed by two polarised arguments. Many on the reactionary right (and not just the reactionary right) view such confrontations as the unacceptable price of mass immigration and the inevitable product of a Muslim presence in western societies. Many liberals and radicals, on the other hand, think it morally wrong to cause offence, believing that for diverse societies to function, there is a need to self-censor so as not to disrespect different cultures and beliefs. Neither argument bears much scrutiny. The most comprehensive account of the events at BGS comes in a review published last week by Sara Khan , the government’s independent adviser on “social cohesion and resilience”. The lesson that sparked the controversy was designed, ironically, to explore issues of blasphemy and free speech, and of appropriate ways of responding to religious disagreements.

Continue reading...

Whether something is racist or homophobic, or threatens parliamentary democracy, should be obvious without government labelling

How do you define extremism? That depends on whether you want a definition with which most people can agree, or one that is meaningful. A definition acceptable to most people must necessarily be broad and bland. One that has more meaning will inevitably be controversial and contested.

And therein lies one of Michael Gove’s problems in his new definition of extremism . Such a definition is either unnecessary or it creates the very problems it is supposed to solve.

Continue reading...

Group’s annual report notes rise in anti-migrant activism and asks if Tory voters are ‘falling out of love with democracy’

British voters are restless, angry and demoralised and more than half of them are pessimistic about the future, according to polling that a counter-extremism organisation has said shows warning signs of future unrest.

More than one in four respondents (43%) described the UK as “declining”, just 6% agreed that the political system was working well and 79% said politicians “don’t listen to people like me”.

Continue reading...

Members of Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group raise concerns over Michael Gove not restarting body that last met in 2020

The government’s Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group (AMHWG) has been “on pause” for more than four years, despite repeated promises from officials and a sharp rise in hate crime.

The Guardian understands members of the AMHWG last officially met in January 2020, before all working groups were adjourned months later because of the pandemic.

Continue reading...

The communities secretary wants ‘trailblazer’ government departments to pilot a scheme to ban individuals and groups deemed extremist from public life

Michael Gove is set to announce a controversial plan this week to ban individuals and groups who “undermine the UK’s system of liberal democracy” from public life, despite fears inside government that the scheme is at risk of a legal challenge, leaked documents reveal.

Officials working for Gove, the secretary of state for the levelling up, housing and communities, have drawn up plans for “trailblazer” departments to pilot the scheme, according to documents that have been circulated to the Home Office and Downing Street and seen by the Observer .

Continue reading...

Exclusive: Joint statement before conference on community cohesion calls for policies to ‘restitch’ society

UK politics must learn to “disagree well” or risk a descent into toxic, US-style culture wars, three influential thinktanks with links to the Conservatives and Labour have warned in a joint statement.

Before a conference on Friday focusing on community cohesion, the Onward, Labour Together and Create Streets thinktanks said that as well as promoting political accord, there was a need to tackle crumbling towns and wider urban decay to fix fraying social bonds.

Continue reading...

As an influential constant in government and policy formation, Gove has been key to the process of rightwing radicalisation

On the ever more common journey from the centre right to the far right, there are two contrasting routes conservative parties can follow. One is to welcome in demagogues such as Lee Anderson and Suella Braverman , and to borrow or indulge their extreme ideas, or only half-condemn them – thus publicising them further – in the hope that this cynical process will attract a wider range of reactionary voters. In countries widely thought of as nostalgic and disillusioned, such as contemporary Britain, it is assumed that there are a lot of these voters, however much the Tories’ terrible poll ratings suggest the contrary.

For a week now, the Conservatives’ contortions and divisions over Anderson’s toxic conspiracy theories have demonstrated the political risks of the demagogue approach. However, there is another way for rightwing parties to radicalise that is more subtle, less controversial and often more successful. It involves more mainstream, less abrasive conservative politicians – people generally regarded and presented by the media as reasonable – exploring and promoting hard-right ideas and turning them into policies, while insisting that nothing harsh or reckless is going on.

Continue reading...