Overview

• Deputy PM Angela Rayner’s working group has paused drafting its final definition until all new submissions are reviewed.
• The Free Speech Union threatened legal action over what it termed a “predetermined outcome,” triggering the extension and broadening of the call for evidence.
• Early criticism focused on a secretive process limited to hand-picked activists, excluding bodies such as the Christian Institute, the Adam Smith Institute and the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
• The proposed definition builds on the 2018 APPG formulation that describes Islamophobia as racism targeting “expressions of Muslimness.”
• Hindu, Sikh and secular groups have urged the establishment of a unified Religious Hate Council to ensure equal protection for all faith communities.