Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment the department has made of how anti-Muslim hostility falling below the criminal threshold is now recognised or recorded by police forces, following the abolition of non-crime hate incidents on 31 March 2026.

This Government is clear that anti-Muslim hatred is completely unacceptable and has no place in our society.

The Government expects police to enforce the law where appropriate to protect communities and maintain public order and public safety. The Government is committed to upholding freedom of speech, but the freedom to express views does not extend to language, displays of writing or images that incite violence, hatred or criminal behaviour. Whether specific speech, chants, placards or slogans constitute an offence depends on the context surrounding the incident, and decisions on enforcement are a matter for the police.

The College of Policing is responsible for providing guidance to police and is operationally independent from Government. The College produces the Public Order Public Safety authorised professional practice, which covers protests and disorder, and jointly publishes the Protest Operational Advice Document with the National Police Chiefs’ Council. The Crown Prosecution Service has also published guidance on protest-related offences. All of these documents are published online.

Under the replacement system proposed by the College of Policing and National Police Chiefs' Council in their joint review of non-crime hate incidents, non-crime incidents motivated by hostility will be recorded only where there is a clear policing purpose. The new framework is being developed with policing partners and is expected to be implemented in early 2027. Until then, police forces continue to apply existing arrangements for recording and managing non-crime hate incidents.