The UK government has published more details about a working group set up to advise it on a possible definition of Islamophobia which would also protect the right to “insult” religious beliefs and practices.
The membership of the working group appears to signal that the government is engaging with the recently launched British Muslim Network (BMN), but not the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) - the largest umbrella body claiming to represent British Muslims.
Dominic Grieve, a former Conservative attorney general, has been appointed chair of the group with BMN co-chair Akeela Ahmed among its four other members.
Ahmed’s inclusion in the working group comes just weeks after the official launch of the BMN in February with backing from faith minister Khan, and after Middle East Eye had previously revealed it had lost much of its Muslim support and was being backed by a charity set up by disgraced former Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.
Yep. I’m not saying that irrational hatred towards individual muslims on the basis of their faith is okay. It isn’t, and it is irrational. But whenever you get the likes of David Wood (Christian apologist and critic of Islam. Has NEVER called for violence or attacks on Muslims themselves) being banned from the UK or Thaddeus Billman in the USA being fired from his job for being “islamophobic”, that’s just ridiculous.