Policy Pledges Muslim Manifesto 2019 MEND | Muslim Engagement & Development 1 “A healthy democracy does not require agreement on every issue. Rather, we contribute to positive social change through solidarity in issues of mutual agreement and critical discourse on issues in which we differ.” - Isobel Ingham-Barrow Head of Policy, MEND 2 MEND Policy Pledges Muslim Manifesto 2019 | www.mend.org.uk Contents Introducing Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) 4 A Note from our CEO 5 MEND’s Policy Pledges 6 An Executive Summary 8 British Muslim Communities 11 Racial and Religious Inequalities 15 Youth and Education 31 Economic Exclusion: Islamophobia in the Labour Market 43 Media and Broadcasting 49 Crime, Policing, and the Criminal Justice System 62 Security and Counter-Terror 69 Political Representation and Exclusion 74 Integration 81 Minority Rights 84 Appendix 90 A Policy Model to tackle Islamophobia 90 Introducing Muslim The Islamophobia Response Unit (IRU) Engagement and The Islamophobia Response Unit (IRU) was Development (MEND) founded by MEND in response to rising anti- Muslim attacks across Europe and a growing MEND tide of anti-Muslim sentiment. The IRU offers a platform for victims of Islamophobic hate crime Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) and discrimination to report and share their is a community-funded organisation that seeks to experiences and serves as a source of free advice, encourage political, civic, and social engagement support, and referral services. within British Muslim communities through empowering British Muslims to interact with The IRU serves three main functions: political and media institutions effectively. • Data collection and monitoring, Our approach to achieving this involves a combination of community engagement (through • The provision of free legal advice and education, community events, local campaigns police liaison, to encourage voting etc.) and advocacy work (involving victim support, submissions to • Provision of basic emotional support, parliamentary inquiries, media analysis, election and signposting to further professional resources, briefings etc.). sources of emotional support if required. Our work has been recognised through the How MEND Assists Parliamentarians following accolades: and Policymakers: • The World Economic Forum commended • Providing briefings, information, our work as “best practice” in Human analysis, and expertise on the issues Rights “protection and promotion”. facing British Muslim communities. • The Office for Democratic Institutions • Arranging opportunities for MPs and Human Rights rated us as the “best to engage with their local Muslim example for civil society organisations”. communities. • The EU Parliament Magazine stated that • Conducting research within Muslim “The EU could learn a lot from MEND’s communities. work on counter-radicalisation through engagement”. • Connecting MPs to local stakeholders. 4 MEND Policy Pledges Muslim Manifesto 2019 | www.mend.org.uk A Note from our CEO Within the space of only a few years, the political landscape of Britain has changed dramatically. Although Brexit dominates the political scene, questions and issues pertaining to British Muslims are also important. This manifesto highlights these issues, including those of integration, identity, belonging, counter- terror, hate-crime, discrimination, media representation and human rights. From these, we have developed a number of key policy pledges that we hope that political parties will critically engage with, and to which they will confirm their commitment. These key pledges sought are summarised overleaf. MEND works to promote greater Muslim engagement at all levels in our democracy. This manifesto is our contribution to furthering the social, civic, economic, and political participation of British Muslims in UK society. Dr Shazad Amin CEO, MEND MEND | Muslim Engagement & Development 5 MEND’s Policy Pledges MEND’s policy pledges are developed and ratified by our National Council. This council consists of the MEND Core Network (MCN) of volunteers and staff. As such, and in accordance with the principles of representative democracy, our pledges are designed to truly reflect the diversity and interests of our 700 volunteers across the country and the vast number of Muslim communities that they represent. MEND’s policy pledges serve as the primary basis on which we engage with political parties, parliamentarians, councillors and policymakers. Indeed we call upon all political parties to adopt them in their manifestos and policy documents. In essence, they summarise the key principles, values, and beliefs on which is MEND is founded, and are as follows; Racial and Religious Equality 1. Commit to adopting the definition of Islamophobia produced by the APPG for British Muslims: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”, and apply this definition in conjunction with the guidelines that MEND has produced. 2. Commit to a review of the 2006 Racial and Religious Hatred Act with a view to strengthening legal protections afforded to religious communities. 3. Implement primary legislation to deal with social media offences and hate speech online and commit to working with social media companies to protect free speech while developing an efficient strategy to tackle hate speech online in consultation with Muslim grassroots organisations. 4. Commit to financing mosque security in a manner that is proportional to risk, in line with what is already correctly provided to Jewish religious institutions. Youth and Education 5. Commit to prioritising PSRE (Personal, Social and Religious Education) and PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) within the national curriculum and ensure grassroots Muslim organisations are enlisted to assist in developing teaching materials to educate young people on the dangers of Islamophobia. 6. Commit to supporting academic freedoms and initiatives to decolonise education, whilst giving greater emphasis within the national curriculum to shared histories and the contributions of minority communities in building our society. 7. Commit to developing training programmes for teachers focussed on tackling and addressing bullying based on race, religion, disability, or sexuality. 8. Commit to supporting faith school provisions in the state sector for Muslim pupils and parents. 9. Commit to implementing Shariah-compliant student loans to encourage more British Muslim students to attend university. The Labour Market 10. Commit to tackling religious, racial and gendered discrimination in the workplace through 6 MEND Policy Pledges Muslim Manifesto 2019 | www.mend.org.uk targeted interventions at all stages of recruitment, retention and promotion. 11. Commit to the use of name-blind applications and targeted interventions within employment aimed at tackling the triple penalty and improving access to employment for British Muslim women specifically. 12. Commit to supporting employers to recognise and accommodate religious festivals and religious observance within the workplace, including the provision of halal meat, prayer rooms, and flexible work hours during Ramadan. Media and Broadcasting 13. Commit to the full implementation of the Royal Charter on press regulation. 14. Commit to the commencement of the second part of the Leveson Inquiry, including an investigation into the prevalence of Islamophobia within the media. 15. Support initiatives by the broadcasting industry to promote positive portrayals of Muslims in the media. Crime, Policing, and the Criminal Justice System 16. Commit to investigating structural Islamophobia within the Criminal Justice System. Security and Counter-Terror 17. Commit to independently reviewing all counter-terrorism legislation enacted since 2000 with a view to curbing the encroachment of counter-terrorism policies on civil liberties. 18. Commit to recognising the role of UK foreign policy in individuals being drawn to political violence. Political Engagement 19. Commit to proactively engaging and consulting with representative and grassroots organisations within British Muslim communities, including but not limited to Muslim Engagement and Development. 20. Commit to recognising that Palestinian activism is a legitimate form of political dialogue and commit to protecting the rights of British Muslims to advocate and support Palestinians’ right to self-determination. Minority Rights and Integration 21. Commit to preserving human rights and the protection of minority rights, including, but not limited to, the rights to religious slaughter, male circumcision and the wearing of religious dress or symbols as currently enshrined within UK legislation. 22. Commit to supporting the protections afforded by the EU Equal Treatment Directive to advance protection against discrimination on the grounds of religion to education, healthcare, housing, access to goods and services and social protection, within UK law post-Brexit. MEND | Muslim Engagement & Development 7 Executive Summary Racial and Religious Equality MEND urges the UK Government to adopt the definition of Islamophobia produced by the APPG for British Muslims: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness” and apply this definition in conjunction with the guidelines outlined within this Manifesto (see p17-18). There is also a need to tackle inadequate legislation on racial and religious hate crime and similar Islamophobic