I thank the noble Baroness for that question, and I pay tribute to her long history of distinguished contributions on these issues. I am on day eight of my post as Faith Minister, so I am not familiar with all the academic research she cites, but I would be very happy to receive it from the noble Baroness and view it. On the substantive point she raises, as she knows, we have commissioned the Rycroft review and we will be legislating on political donations. But I take very seriously exactly the point she is making about not just anti-Muslim hostility but religious hatred generally: that there are external actors which are seeking to disrupt our politics and disturb our communities.

The Government's priority is to support and promote community cohesion across the UK, working closely with local authorities, devolved administrations, voluntary and community sector and faith organisations, and other government departments.

The government's new £2.87 million Common Ground Resilience Fund is supporting community connection and cohesion in England by funding locally led interventions to build community resilience. Furthermore, MHCLG is co-ordinating cross-Government efforts to develop a longer-term, more strategic approach to social cohesion - working in partnership with stakeholders to rebuild, renew and address deep-seated issues.

The Government's priority is to support and promote community cohesion across the UK, working closely with local authorities, devolved administrations, voluntary and community sector and faith organisations, and other government departments.

The government's new £2.87 million Common Ground Resilience Fund is supporting community connection and cohesion in England by funding locally led interventions to build community resilience. Furthermore, MHCLG is co-ordinating cross-Government efforts to develop a longer-term, more strategic approach to social cohesion - working in partnership with stakeholders to rebuild, renew and address deep-seated issues.

No assessment of those reports have been made, but we keep all such matters under review.

There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at Muslim communities and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.

The Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship and community centres. We regularly work closely with the police to assess threats and review the protections in place for communities.

The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides protective security measures, such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing, to mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. These protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. We have made up to £29.4 million available for this important work in 2025/26.

There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at Muslim communities and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.

The Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship and community centres. We regularly work closely with the police to assess threats and review the protections in place for communities.

The Protective Security for Mosques Scheme provides protective security measures, such as security personnel services, CCTV, intruder alarms and secure perimeter fencing, to mosques and associated Muslim faith community centres. These protective security measures are also available to Muslim faith schools. We have made up to £29.4 million available for this important work in 2025/26.

There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at Muslim communities. The Government is committed to safeguarding the right to practise faith freely and safely, including at places of worship.

While we do not disclose details of operational discussions, the Home Secretary regularly meets Counter Terrorism Policing to discuss current threats and risks.

We have robust legislation to address threatening, abusive and harassing behaviour, including laws against inciting racial and religious hatred. Online hate is also a priority illegal harm under the Online Safety Act 2023, which places legal duties on platforms to proactively prevent and remove such content, and to take other steps to reduce abuse on their platforms.

We continue to support the police in taking strong action against those who seek to harm or intimidate communities.

There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at places of worship and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.

The Government is committed to protecting the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship and community centres. We regularly work closely with the police to assess threats and review the protections in place for communities.

In 2025/26, up to £50.9 million is available to protect faith communities. This includes £18 million through the Jewish Community Protective Security Grant, £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme and for security at Muslim faith schools, and £3.5 million for the places of worship and associated faith community centres of all other faiths.

In addition, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is undertaking work to develop a more strategic approach to supporting communities and societal resilience more broadly.

This Government takes extremism seriously and we are committed to ensuring we have the required tools and powers needed to address this issue. Efforts to counter extremism span a broad range of Government and law enforcement activity and we must persist in our efforts to challenge extremist narratives, disrupt the activity of radicalising groups, and directly tackle the causes of radicalisation.

Where the actions of individuals cross a legal threshold, the police will investigate and bring charges where there is evidence to support this.

The government is committed to building a Britain where all communities feel safe, and where the contributions of people of faith and belief, including Muslims, are warmly welcomed. The government protects the right of individuals to practise their religion freely at their chosen places of worship. There is no excuse for violence or threats targeted at places of worship and we support the police in taking strong action against those who carry out these crimes.

The government works with partners to combat religiously motivated hatred, including by taking steps to safeguard Muslim places of worship and faith schools, providing £29.4 million through the Protective Security for Mosques scheme. We are providing funding for the British Muslim Trust to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and support victims. The government has also established an independent working group to advise government on a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia.

The Online Safety Act gives services duties to protect all UK users from illegal content, including illegal AI-generated disinformation. These protections apply to all users, including minority communities who are often disproportionately targeted by harmful online content.

Ofcom’s illegal content codes of practice strengthen the safeguards by requiring services to reduce exposure to illegal content. With Ofcom, we are monitoring the implementation of the Act and platforms’ compliance.

This Government recognises the challenges of detecting AI-generated content and is partnering with industry and academia to support technical innovation.

The government engages regularly with technology companies to make clear their responsibility to keep users safe.

The Online Safety Act requires all in-scope companies to tackle illegal content, including state-sponsored disinformation that meets the threshold of the Foreign Interference Offence. Where such content is generated using artificial intelligence, it would be captured as the Act applies regardless of how the content is produced.

At present, the government does not have plans to commission research specifically on the impact of Islamophobic disinformation on public attitudes. However, the government remains committed to addressing religiously motivated hate crime and promoting social cohesion.

Anti-Muslim hatred is abhorrent and has no place in our society, no one should ever be a victim of hatred because of their religion or belief. The Government has established an independent working group to advise government on a definition of Anti-Muslim Hatred/Islamophobia, and how to best understand, quantify and define prejudice, discrimination, and hate crime targeted against Muslims or anyone who is perceived to be Muslim. The British Muslim Trust will also receive funding to provide a comprehensive service to monitor anti-Muslim hatred and support victims.

Furthermore, we are committed to bridging divisions between communities and challenging hatred and that is why we have launched the Plan for Neighbourhoods programme, providing £5bn over 10 years to support up to 250 places which will help build strong, resilient and integrated communities. We know that malign actors deliberately seek to amplify hateful and divisive narratives online to influence audiences, including in the UK. For this reason, The Foreign Interference Offence has been added as a priority offence in the Online Safety Act, meaning all in-scope companies must take systemic action against illegal state-sponsored disinformation and interference online.

I first acknowledge the work that the noble Baroness has done in this area; in particular, a comprehensive piece of work done by the APPG on the definition of Islamophobia. A new definition must be given careful consideration so that it comprehensively reflects multiple perspectives and considers the potential implications for different communities. We understand the strength of feeling on this issue and want to make sure that any definition comprehensively reflects multiple perspectives. We are actively engaging and considering our approach to Islamophobia, including definitions, and we will provide further updates in due course. I look forward to working and engaging with the noble Baroness and the APPG.

I can assure the noble Baroness, and all the speakers so far, that I have taken up this matter since I came into this position. The department is being asked to investigate and look at all the matters raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Gohir, and others.

The UK recognises the right of British nationals with more than one nationality to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of their additional nationalities. This includes the Israel Defence Force.

With respect to the current conflict in Gaza, Section 4 of the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870 makes it an offence for a British subject to enlist in the military of a foreign state at war with another foreign state with which the UK is at peace. That prohibition does not extend, however, to enlistment in a foreign government's forces which are engaged in a civil war or combating terrorism or internal uprisings. The Occupied Palestinian Territories are not currently recognised as a state by the UK. The 1870 Act therefore does not apply in this instance.

The UK recognises the right of British nationals with more than one nationality to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of their additional nationalities. This includes the Israel Defence Force.

Anyone who travels to conflict zones to engage in unlawful activity should expect to be investigated upon their return to the UK. Decisions on prosecutions are taken independently by the police and Crown Prosecution Service on a case-by-case basis.

The UK recognises the right of British nationals with more than one nationality to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of their additional nationalities. This includes the Israel Defence Force.

Anyone who travels to conflict zones to engage in unlawful activity should expect to be investigated upon their return to the UK. Decisions on prosecutions are taken independently by the police and Crown Prosecution Service on a case-by-case basis.

We are aware of reports of UK citizens travelling to fight for the Israel Defence Force (IDF), but the Government does not estimate the numbers of those who have done so.

The UK recognises the right of British nationals with more than one nationality to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of their additional nationalities.