Pickthall commends the UK government’s aim to define Islamophobia while maintaining free speech
The UK government’s recent decision to set up a working group aiming to define Islamophobia has emphasised the need to combat discrimination while safeguarding freedom of speech. Chaired by former Conservative Attorney General Dominic Grieve, the group includes representatives from the British Muslim Network (BMN) but notably excludes the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the largest and most established umbrella organisation representing British Muslims.
This new initiative comes after the government rejected the 2018 definition of Islamophobia proposed by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG). Critics of the APPG’s definition argued that it could potentially limit the freedom to criticise Islam. The new working group’s approach, rightly, promises to define Islamophobia in a way that protects Muslims from hate while also ensuring that freedom of expression is not compromised—including the right to criticise or even insult religious beliefs. With anti-Muslim hate crimes at record highs in England and Wales, the group is tasked with providing advice in six months as part of a broader effort to combat religiously motivated hate crimes.
Pickthall House recognises the importance of defining Islamophobia, while also appreciating the government’s effort to protect free speech, which is essential to maintaining a unified democracy. The sociologist Tariq Modood suggests that any identification of discourse as Islamophobia must pass five crucial tests to ensure it doesn’t unnecessarily limit expression or stifle legitimate debate—crucially, none of these tests rule out specific opinions as inherently Islamophobic; they concern only the manner in which views are expressed.
However, Pickthall House also believes the government should engage more inclusively with Muslim civil society, including the MCB, despite legitimate concerns about some controversial individuals associated with it. Among Muslim civil society groups, the MCB represents by far the broadest and most diverse segment of the Muslim community in the UK, with significant institutional support through mosque affiliations and grassroots networks. Refusing to engage with the MCB, despite their official repudiation of the most objectionable comments made by its members, sends a signal that the government does not respect the organic civil society groups that have emerged to represent British Muslims.
The UK government has followed a disengagement policy with the MCB since 2010. In 2024, the UK government considered listing the MCB as an ‘extremist group.’ This policy of freezing organisations out of political debate, or singling them out for police harassment when they have not broken any laws, tends to encourage, not reduce, radicalisation.
By working with a diverse range of Muslim civil society organisations, including the MCB, the UK government can ensure that it addresses the challenges of Islamophobia comprehensively and fairly, helping to unite, rather than divide, British society.
