The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has urged the UK government to adopt the contentious definition of Islamophobia proposed in 2018 by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for British Muslims in comments made to Middle East Eye.
As per the MEE, earlier, it emerged that the government is planning to create a council to help draw up an official definition for anti-Muslim discrimination, indicating it has rowed back plans to adopt the APPG definition.
“The Muslim Council of Britain welcomes the government’s interest in tackling Islamophobia, but rather than reinventing the wheel, we urge them to adopt the APPG definition,” the MCB told MEE.
The Telegraph reported on Monday night that the planned 16-strong council within the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government will advise the government on tackling Islamophobia.
It will also work as an official, though non-legally binding, definition of anti-Muslim discrimination.
The previous Conservative government adopted an official definition of antisemitism, leading to calls for a similar definition of Islamophobia.
But the 2018 APPG for British Muslims’ proposed definition, which the Conservative government rejected, was widely criticised as potentially stifling criticism of Islam.
The definition, adopted by Labour in opposition, characterises Islamophobia as “a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”
The MCB said: “We support any initiative to examine and deal with the very real challenge if Islamophobia that blights our society.The violence we saw last year from the post-Southport riots….”
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