UK Muslims look to Labour's Burnham devolution to tackle hate

Muslim organisations have welcomed Labour's change in rhetoric at this year's party conference but warned that concrete action is needed to tackle rising Islamophobia in the UK, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham's devolution agenda seen as a potential way to strengthen Muslim communities' sense of belonging and safety.

Speaking to The New Arab on the sidelines of the conference, Zia Salik, interim director of Islamic Relief, said Labour had been actively engaging with Muslim communities on Islamophobia.

"I think we've had good engagement and I think people are starting to understand the issues," he said, adding, "but of course, until there is practical implementation we're not going to see the change that we need to see, which is ultimately the outcomes for British Muslims."

Salik warned that an increasingly Islamophobic political climate was fuelling feelings of exclusion among British Muslims, pointing to a recent survey of 5,000 British Muslims commissioned in partnership with Muslim Census and the National Zakat Foundation.

Asked what was driving this sense of alienation, Salik said the survey had identified Islamophobia as the leading concern.

"The number one issue was Islamophobia, and the issue around the political atmosphere is really the rhetoric online and within political parties."

He cited comments by Conservative MP Nick Timothy, who described Muslim prayers held in Trafalgar Square during an iftar event in March as "an act of dominance", as an example of the political rhetoric contributing to these concerns.

The concerns come amid a sharp rise in anti-Muslim hate across Britain. According to Home Office figures, 3,199 religious hate crimes targeting Muslims were recorded in England and Wales, excluding the Metropolitan Police, in the year to March 2025, a 19% increase on the previous year.

Anti-Muslim hate has surged across Britain in recent years, with anti-Muslim hate rising by 165% between 2022 and 2024, reaching a record 6,313 in 2024, according to TELL MAMA.  In London alone, reported incidents increased more than sixfold between 2021 and 2025.

Salik also welcomed the government's introduction of a definition of Islamophobia earlier this year but stressed that the policies accompanying it needed to be "fast-tracked and implemented".

"That's the key thing. We need to see leadership we heard yesterday," he said, referring to Ed Miliband's remarks on Monday acknowledging that pro-Palestinian protesters had been right to demonstrate against Israel's actions in Gaza.

"I think this kind of narrative needs to apply across the board and on issues like this as well, and we welcome that approach."

Devolution offers hope for marginalised communities

This year's Labour conference has been dominated by the message of "hope again", as the party seeks to change course following the ousting of Keir Starmer in June.

Addressing the conference on Tuesday, Burnham said it was "time to draw a line, to move beyond a decade of drift and division", urging the public to imagine "a Britain for everyone, no matter who we are or where we're born".

Asked whether this message of hope was resonating with Muslim communities, Salik said the atmosphere at the conference had been encouraging.

"I think there has been a positive atmosphere. I think there's been lots of conversations about things that need to happen, that haven't happened for a long time [and] that are starting to happen."

Sajid Mohammed, executive director of the social justice organisation Himmah, also welcomed the shift in Labour's rhetoric but warned that the party had yet to translate its promises into meaningful change.

"I think it was refreshing to see Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham use the language that they do. I think it cuts very clearly and connects with the communities," Mohammed said.

"Unfortunately, we have not yet seen it in action and it being delivered," he cautioned, calling on Labour to reflect on the deprioritisation of racial equality and, by extension, Muslim communities in recent years.

Mohammed argued that Burnham's devolution agenda, a cornerstone of his premiership, could give marginalised communities greater influence over the decisions affecting their lives.

"I think there's a real big opportunity with devolution and how marginalised communities, socially and economically marginalised communities, can interact and shape policy," he said, adding, "it's all in the details and how it's delivered."

He said giving communities greater ownership and a meaningful say in local decision-making could help strengthen their sense of belonging and counter far-right narratives that portray different groups as competing for limited resources.

"There's a saying, 'an Englishman's home is his castle'. Ownership is belonging, that's meaningful belonging, and unless communities have ownership, have a real say [in] what happens, I think there's that erosion and space given to far-right narratives of zero [sum] gaming where there's winners and losers, and that's what needs to be tackled."

The scale of the problem is particularly evident in London, where Tell MAMA recorded 1,909 reports of anti-Muslim hate in 2025, compared with 313 in 2021. A further 1,031 incidents were reported in the first six months of 2026, highlighting the growing pressure on local authorities to respond to anti-Muslim hostility.

Shabna Begum, chief executive of the Runnymede Trust, a race equality think tank, also identified devolution as a potential tool for tackling Islamophobia, arguing that the problem requires action at multiple levels because it is both structural and political.

"In terms of aspirations and values, there's a desire [from Muslim communities] and an aspiration to belong," Begum told The New Arab, adding, "but at the same time, we've got kind of a material environment that inhibits that belonging and actually makes that more difficult."

She urged the government to challenge the increasingly normalised portrayal of Muslims as a "deviant community", arguing that devolution could help policymakers better understand how Islamophobia manifests in different parts of society.

"I think the devolution piece is an opportunity to really surface what is happening at that closer level, and to examine what those experiences are at the city level, the country level, whatever the devolved level happens to be."

Beyond the government's devolution agenda, Begum said this year's Labour conference had marked a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, with organisations that had previously worked in separate spaces increasingly finding common ground and pursuing shared objectives.

"There is a sense of much more collective effort, and that actually, we may not be joined up in a really intentional and coordinated way, but I get the sense that people feel we are are pushing towards something, more hopeful, more optimistic, more progressive," Begum said.

"From my view, it's felt more productive and positive than it's felt recently."