This week, Tory shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy caused controversy online when he suggested Islamic public prayers at Trafalgar Square were an “act of domination”. Sensing an opportunity, Keir Starmer responded and claimed that the Conservatives have a “problem of Muslims”. The PM then went further and called on Kemi Badenoch to sack Timothy from his frontbench role, but she defended him, saying he was “defending British values”.

Starmer’s response to Timothy’s remarks is part of a wider Muslim “charm offensive”. The party is haemorrhaging British Muslim support, particularly because of the party’s initial positioning on Israel-Gaza. As a result, several local independent Muslim councillors have taken seats at the expense of Labour, and the party was knocked down to third place in the recent Gorton and Denton by-election, where the Green Party emerged victorious. In an attempt to win back British Muslim voters, Labour has created an “anti-Muslim hostility tsar”, but time will tell if this has any impact.

Despite the politicking of Labour, there are legitimate criticisms to be made of Timothy’s tweets. The public event in question was an iftar — a post-fast meal during Ramadan — which has also been used as a site for other large-scale religious celebrations, including Easter, Diwali, Vaisakhi, and Hanukkah. Religious celebrations by minority faiths at the location are not necessarily new, nor exclusively exercised by Muslims. This is surely a blind spot for Timothy. Focusing on an iftar gathering at Trafalgar Square makes for an odd target if one wishes to flag the threat of Islamist domination in the public sphere. There are numerous more concerning examples of Islamist domination in the public sphere in recent times. A few years ago, there were demonstrations outside Batley Grammar School after a school teacher showed a caricature of the prophet Muhammad PBUH in class. In more recent times, religiously-inspired anti-Jewish chanting has been a frequent occurrence at pro-Palestine demonstrations. These are genuinely worrying signs.

And that’s where the case of Nick Timothy’s intervention and the progressive chorus of condemnation it has received touches on one of the most pressing questions in modern Britain. To what extent should the rich tradition of religious freedom continue to be promoted in the public sphere, and should certain limits be encouraged in the interests of social cohesion?

The UK is a curious mix of having a rapidly secularised society which is also becoming religiously diverse, as well as witnessing a Christian revival of sorts on the political Right. The controversy surrounding the iftar gathering at Trafalgar Square is perhaps a sign of things to come. The British Left — especially Labour and the Greens — will increasingly compete for the attention and support of a relatively youthful, engaged, and assertive British Muslim electorate. This bloc holds its faith dearly and will surely vote for parties that stand to uphold their religious freedom. Meanwhile, the British Right — from the moderate Conservatives to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK and Rupert Lowe’s Restore Britain — will lock horns over providing a robust offering to anti-Islam voters. This group is moving towards endorsing a more ethno-religious conception of nationhood in an era of massive demographic change.

An identitarian “race to the bottom” on both sides of the political spectrum will only leave Britain more bitterly divided in an increasingly unpredictable world. But on such a divisive, polarising issue, that is where we are headed.

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Dr Rakib Ehsan is a researcher specialising in British ethnic minority socio-political attitudes, with a particular focus on the effects of social integration and intergroup relations.

 

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