** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE** Rights group Muslim Engagement & Development (MEND) have launched a new report The Great Debunk: Challenging Islamophobic Conspiracy Theories, which examines how false narratives about Muslims once limited to the far-right fringes have entered mainstream political,...
Witnesses at the trial of Darren Osborne, the man accused of driving a van into worshippers outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, have told how the alleged attacker smiled at those present in the crowd after the incident. Worshippers outside the Muslim Welfare House in Finsbury Park shortly after the...
BBC News reports that a mother was racially abused on a Tube train by another woman, who also threatened to have her children kidnapped. The assault took place on the Central Line at 6.30PM on 28 December, according to British Transport Police. The mother, who is in her 30s, got on the tube at...
New, chilling details have emerged regarding the Finsbury Park attack of 19 June 2017, as the trial of Darren Osborne at Woolwich crown court unveils the dangers posed by far-right propaganda. The Guardian reports that, according to prosecutors, Mr Osborne, 48, had indeed been “brainwashed”...
The UK’s competition regulator has provisionally blocked Rupert Murdoch’s bid to take full control of Sky due to concerns about media plurality. The Competition and Markets Authority stated that due to the Murdoch Family Trust’s (MFT) current ownership of 21st Century Fox and News Corp, its...
An investigation launched by The Sun reveals that drivers with the first name Mohammed are charged more by insurance companies than their counterparts with English names. When comparing car insurance, firms such as Admiral, Marks & Spencer, Bell, Elephant and Diamond were found to...
A Britain First supporter who drove his van at a Muslim restaurant owner in London last year will walk free despite being handed a jail sentence. Marek Zakrocki, 48, was sentenced to 33 weeks in prison for admitting offences of dangerous driving, drunk driving and battery, but will be released due...
The Independent reports that St Stephen’s, a top primary school in the borough of Newham, has banned girls under the age of eight from wearing the hijab in school, as well as forbidding Muslim pupils from fasting on school days during Ramadan. St Stephen’s head teacher, Neena Lall,...
2017 has been an extremely busy year at MEND for our staff and our hundreds of volunteers across the country. Our team has increased this year and three new full time roles have been created, including our Islamophobia Response Unit Caseworker and Media and Parliamentary officer. Below you can read...
Peers in the House of Lords have defeated the Government in a vote to launch the second phase of the Leveson inquiry into the behaviour of the press. The vote creates an amendment to the Data Protection Bill currently going through Parliament, calling for the Government to investigate “corporate...
Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Sally Holland, has urged schools to raise awareness of Islamophobia, BBC News reports. According to the Home Office, religious hate crime increased by 35% in 2016-17. During the same time, teachers from 16 of the 22 local authorities in Wales reported...
