Middle East Eye I MEE has learnt that the UK government has recently failed to respond to communications from the Muslim Council of Britain MCB during far-right riots. Founded in 1997, the MCB is the UK’s leading body for Muslim organisations, with more than 500 members from mosques, schools, councils, professional bodies, and advocacy groups.
Some of the sources in the MCB disclosed to MEE that the government had not contacted the organisation in the process of the racially motivated and Islamophobic attack that had started last Tuesday. The riots erupted soon after an incident whereby three children were stabbed in Southport on 29 July, whereby distorted information was posted online, including rumours that the attacker was a Muslim and an illegal immigrant that was also circulating in social media.
In one case, on 31 July, a mosque in Southport was attacked by a mob. Following this, the MCB said it had contacted the Home Secretary to ensure the safety of mosques and communities. But from the information this writer has gathered from MEE, the government has not communicated the latter.
The Home Office, however, when contacted, referred MEE to the temporary security measures taken by the government of the United Kingdom to ensure mosques, announced on 4 August in light of the deadly scenes that played out in July 2016. The Cabinet Office, however, quoted a statement by Labour’s communities minister Alex Morris when speaking on 2 August that the ministers had no intentions of meeting with the MCB.
Still, the current UK government has found itself in a position where the Northern Ireland administration headed by Sinn Fein has contacted the MCB. On Thursday, in a bid to address racism and Islamophobia, MCB Secretary-General Zara Mohammed met with First Minister Michelle O’Neill. The MCB also had a community meeting with the London Fire Brigade service on Wednesday regarding the riots.
Some of the MCB’s employees raised concerns about the government’s lack of response, and some recommended that the organisation be more assertive on issues. The source opined that the government would have quickly come to its aid earlier if another community had been similarly disposed of.
In another source, more stress was placed on the representative capacity of the MCB as the most prominent organisation for Muslims in the UK and the necessity to give a clear indication of the leadership during the crisis.
It will be recalled that the newly elected Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, visited a mosque in Solihull, West Midlands, on Thursday for the first time since he assumed office in July and since the beginning of the riots. Nevertheless, MCB has yet to escape some difficulties in its transaction with the country’s government.
Last year, MEE did introduce that Labour is supporting the establishment of a fresh Muslim leadership council that is planned to be an official interlocutor with Starmer’s government, which can compete with the MCB.
Preliminary findings on the MCB reveal that it has already been involved in most of the civil servants’ business and the major political parties, and it works together with the Church of England and the National Health Service. However, from 2021, the MCB seems to have been sidelined by the government, which appears to be recurring under the present Labour regime.
The MCB was boycotted briefly by the Labour government of Gordon Brown in 2009 after a former deputy secretary general spoke in favour of ‘Palestinians’ right to resist during the Isreal’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza’. However, relations were reestablished before Labour’s loss in 2010, but the Conservative ministers have studiously refrained from dealing with the MCB. Despite MCB inaugurating its strategic partnership with the Conservatives in February 2020, the working relationship between the two often sour this year, especially when the MCB released a dossier involving revelations of rampant Islamophobia in the Conservatives.
Nevertheless, the MCB has remained connected with some official organisations and has kept on fighting on behalf of the British Muslims.
