Anti-Muslim Hostility: Non-statutory Definition

Baroness Hussein-Ece Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

Yes, it is really important that we make sure that the reporting and recording are done. In terms of support for other faith groups, we will work with and celebrate our faith and belief communities to improve the understanding of different religions, to support tolerance and to build a more cohesive and resilient country. A very detailed action plan sits behind the whole of Protecting What Matters, which is where the definition is included. The education the noble Lord refers to is very clearly and consistently part of that action plan—we will have another opportunity to debate that on Monday when I will answer questions on the Statement on it. We continue to support programmes such as Near Neighbours which bring people together in religiously and ethnically diverse neighbourhoods to make sure that they are collaborating on community initiatives. The action plan supports all that work as well as providing this very clear definition of anti-Muslim hostility.

[Baroness Hussein-Ece (LD)]

I welcome the action plan and pay tribute to all the work that has gone into arriving at it. In 2019, the then Conservative Communities Secretary, James Brokenshire, said:

“The government is wholeheartedly committed to ensuring that Muslims are not targeted for hatred, persecution or discrimination”.


The Government’s press release at the time said that they agreed that

“there needs to be a formal definition of Islamophobia to help strengthen our efforts against anti-Muslim hatred”.

In recognising, as the Minister has set out, that this definition is not about preventing free speech but about protecting individuals, can I ask her to articulate how this plan and this definition would operate on exactly the same principle as the widely adopted working definition of antisemitism, and that those who claim this is an Islamophobia law or a blasphemy law—which is widely being put out there now, very destructively—are simply spreading disinformation and sowing division? Hate speech is not free speech.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I want to be absolutely crystal-clear on the point about blasphemy. There are no blasphemy laws in England, and the Government have no plans to introduce any. The UK has a very proud tradition of religious tolerance within the law, and the Government are committed to building a strong and integrated society in which hatred and prejudice are not tolerated and where everyone is free to express their religious identity and live without fear of discrimination or harm. Muslims are currently subject to 45% of hate crime and we have seen horrific incidents aimed at our Jewish communities and, shockingly, a spike in antisemitism in our communities following those incidents. We need to support those communities, and the Government are absolutely committed to doing so.