UK: Deputy Prime Minister to establish a council on 'Islamophobia' and introduce guidelines on Islam and free speech

Image: Jihad Watch

Angela Rayner is set to establish a council on Islamophobia, with a former Tory minister lined up to lead it, The Telegraph has learned.

The 16-member council will offer advice on creating an official government definition of anti-Muslim discrimination and provide guidance to ministers on addressing Islamophobia, according to sources.

Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative attorney general and prominent Remain supporter, has been “recommended” to chair the council within Rayner’s Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) due to his active involvement in tackling Islamophobia.

Grieve previously chaired the Citizens’ UK Commission on Islam, which worked to foster dialogue between Muslim and non-Muslim communities, and contributed a foreword to a 2018 report by an all-party parliamentary group that proposed a definition of Islamophobia—later adopted by the Labour Party.

This definition has been criticized for being overly broad, limiting free speech, resembling a de facto blasphemy law, and suppressing legitimate criticism of Islam as a religion.

Among those shortlisted for the council is Qari Asim, a Leeds imam dismissed as a government adviser by the Tories in 2022 after supporting calls to ban The Lady of Heaven, a film about the daughter of Prophet Mohammed.

The all-party group, co-chaired by Wes Streeting, now the Health Secretary, released its definition in 2018 following an 18-month consultation. It defines Islamophobia as “rooted in racism” and specifically targeting expressions of “Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”

Grieve stated that it was clear that “perfectly law-abiding Muslims, going about their business and well integrated into society, are suffering discrimination and abuse.”

(This Article was originally published by Jihad Watch)