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Starmer fails to meet Muslim representatives since far-right riots
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, August 6, 2024

SIR KEIR STARMER has failed to meet any representative Muslim organisations since the onset of the far-right Islamophobic riots.

A Downing Street spokeswoman today was unable to identify any meeting with Muslim groups about their concerns over disturbances which have included attacks on mosques and on Muslim individuals.

Nor could she indicate any planned meetings. 

The spokeswoman reaffirmed that there had been no change in policy towards the largest umbrella organisation, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), which ministers have refused to engage with since 2009 in a confected row about “extremism.”

The MCB was approached for comment.

The failure to engage with any representatives of those facing the largest threat of racist violence opens the premier to further charges that he is soft on Islamophobia.

Sir Keir has been reluctant to call out Islamophobia since the riots and has preferred to treat them as exclusively a law-and-order issue. 

And during the election campaign, he scandalised many by apparently urging the deportation of Bangladeshis.

Downing Street stressed today that it remained on “high alert” for more riots, although they appear to be abating.

“We welcome that there has been a de-escalation this weekend. But we’re certainly not complacent and remain on high alert,” the spokeswoman said.

“We also recognise that the job is not done until people feel safe in their communities,” she added, emphasising the government’s mobilisation of police and courts, something in which the Prime Minister is long practised.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper took to the Telegraph to criticise politicians, who she did not name but almost certainly look and sound very much like Nigel Farage, who she said had exhibited “shameful behaviour” and “sought to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the police.”

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