AN Islamophobia charity is facing closure after the UK Government cut all funding.
Tell Mama is a service for reporting anti-Muslim hate incidents, funded entirely by a grant from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Yet the Guardian reports that the UK Government has informed the charity that no grant will be provided from the end of this month, and it has not given details of any alternative provision.
The charity is now facing closure, just weeks after it revealed a record number of anti-Muslim hate incidents in Britain.
The service received 10,700 reports last year – of which 9600 were verified – showing street-based incidents on the rise and a sharp increase in online activity after the Southport attack and ensuing riots.
Police sources raised alarm over the probably impact of the cut, telling the Guardian that information provided by Tell Mama under a data sharing agreement signed in 2015 has been "invaluable" for monitoring indicators of rising tensions and responding to potential threats.
Fiyaz Mughal, the founder of Tell Mama, said its resources were being cut while “the far right and populists across Europe are growing significantly”.
He told the Guardian: “There are going to be more individuals targeted, we know that in the current environment, and where are they going to go? This is an injustice at a time where I have never seen anti-Muslim rhetoric become so mainstream.
“Labour talks a lot about countering Islamophobia but they are cutting the only project doing anything on a national scale – supporting victims, working with numerous police forces and supporting prosecutions.
“I’m not aware of any other organisation that can do this work and even if a new agency tried, it would take them 10 to 15 years to reach where Tell Mama is.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government did not respond to the Guardian when asked why the funding was being withdrawn or what alternative service would be funded.
The spokesperson said: “Religious and racial hatred has absolutely no place in our society, and we will not tolerate Islamophobia in any form.
“This year we have made up to £1m of funding available to Tell Mama to provide support for victims of Islamophobia, and we will set out our approach to future funding in due course.”
