UK support for Israel 'is not unconditional', foreign minister Cameron says

LONDON: The UK government is ending funding for Islamophobia reporting service Tell Mama, The Guardian reported on Saturday.

The project, founded in 2012, is now facing closure weeks after it reported a record number of anti-Muslim hate incidents across the country.

Since its launch, Tell Mama has been wholly funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

The ministry told Tell Mama that no grant would be provided by the end of March, without providing alternative arrangements.

Data provided by the service to police under a 2015 sharing agreement has been “invaluable” for monitoring community cohesion and responding to threats, police sources told The Guardian.

Tell Mama received 10,700 reports of Islamophobia last year, with 9,600 being verified. Muslims were the most targeted group in hate attacks in the year ending March 2024, according to police figures. They made up 38 percent of victims nationwide.

Tell Mama’s founder Fiyaz Mughal said its resources were being cut while “the far right and ­populists across Europe are growing significantly. 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.”

Tell Mama provides a crucial point of contact for vulnerable people who often feel unable to contact the police, Mughal said.

“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,” he added.

On Feb. 28, the government announced a new working group on anti-Muslim hatred that will create a new definition of Islamophobia and “support a wider stream of work to tackle the unacceptable incidents of anti-Muslim hatred.”

But Mughal accused the government of “saying one thing and doing another,” adding: “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.”

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said Tell Mama’s contributions “have allowed for the effective analysis of community tensions and informed actions to reduce such tensions.”

A spokesperson for the ministry responsible for the cut 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 £1 million ($1.29 million) 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.”

LONDON: The UK on Saturday said that Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was considering joining a group of countries prepared to protect an eventual ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Britain and France have been leading efforts to form the so-called “coalition of the willing,” with the United States’ long-term commitment to Europe’s security now in doubt under President Donald Trump.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer “spoke to the Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese this morning,” the UK leader’s office said on Saturday.
“He welcomed Prime Minister Albanese’s commitment to consider contributing to a Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine and looked forward to the Chiefs of Defense meeting in Paris on Tuesday.”
European countries have been rushing to boost support for Ukraine as Trump pursues direct talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to end Moscow’s three-year-long invasion of Ukraine.
Several European states have said they would be willing to deploy troops to Ukraine as a “security guarantee.”
Key details about the “coalition of the willing” have not been specified, but the grouping was mentioned by Starmer during a summit of European leaders in London last Sunday aimed at guaranteeing “lasting peace” in Ukraine.
British officials have held talks with around 20 countries interested in being part of the group, a UK official said on Thursday.
The official refused to name the nations but said they were “largely European and Commonwealth partners.”
Earlier this week, Albanese told journalists that Australia was “ready to assist” Ukraine.
“There’s discussion at the moment about potential peacekeeping,” he said. “From my government’s perspective, we’re open to consideration of any proposals going forward.”