Comment
By Sir Ed Davey, Leader of Liberal Democrats
London, (The Muslim News): Like the rest of the country, I was shocked and appalled by the horrific attack in Southport that claimed the lives of three innocent young girls on 29th July.
Across the country, we have witnessed people coming together to grieve with love and compassion. But a small minority of far-right extremists have exploited the unfathomable tragedy in Southport to commit appalling acts of violence, targeting Muslims, asylum seekers and communities of colour.
As a country, we cannot – and will not – accept this.
Everybody deserves to feel safe in their homes, communities and places of worship. It is heartbreaking that the events of the past week have shattered those feelings for so many people.
Let’s be clear – the rioters do not speak for Britain or our values. But how we choose to respond as a country does.
Already, we have witnessed some of the best of British values in action. Communities coming together to clean up the damage. Standing in solidarity with their Muslim neighbours and friends. Denouncing the vile racism, hatred and violence that has unfolded on our streets.
Making it clear that hatred will never divide us, and that unity will prevail.
Racism and Islamophobia have no place in our society. We must work together to consign this hatred to the history books where it belongs.
I fully support the government’s decision to call the motivation behind some of the violence what it is – Islamophobia. But it is my sincere hope that they go further, too.
For too long, the previous government failed to treat Islamophobia with the urgency it deserved. Now, the Prime Minister has an opportunity to take the swift, decisive action that the British Muslim community deserves.
That starts with adopting a formal working definition of Islamophobia. My own party, for example, adopted the APPG on British Muslim’s definition back in 2019. We need action on this as a priority, to make clear that Islamophobia will not be tolerated.
At the same time, the government should immediately appoint an Independent Government adviser on Islamophobia – a post that has been left vacant for two years at the hands of the Conservatives.
Although the violence of the past week has been utterly shocking, we cannot forget the disturbing uptick in Islamophobic hate incidents across the country in recent years. This is a complex situation that requires high-level direction from government to solve it. But I am hopeful that if we work together, it is something we can achieve.
We have witnessed so much compassion, kindness and decency in the last few days, particularly on Wednesday – not least from the British Muslim community who have so bravely come together for their communities, despite being targeted. We owe it to these individuals to act quickly to stamp out Islamophobia from our society, once and for all.
[Photo: Sir Ed Davey]
