Mosques and Islamic centres in the UK have been granted £10 million in extra security funding in response to a rise in hate crimes, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced.
The money will provide CCTV, alarm systems, secure fencing and security personnel services and builds on the £29.4 million already available this year for mosques and Muslim faith schools. During last summer's violent disorder, mosques in Southport, Middlesbrough and Sunderland were attacked, causing significant distress to local communities.
The funding for the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme was announced during the Prime Minister's visit to Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex, which fell victim to an arson attack on October 4. The scheme protects mosques, Muslim community centres and Muslim faith schools that have experienced or are vulnerable to hate crime.
The most recent hate crime statistics show that anti-Muslim hate crimes rose by 19 per cent in the year ending March 2025, and that 44 per cent of all religious hate crimes were against Muslims.
Mr Starmer said: “Britain is a proud and tolerant country. Attacks on any community are attacks on our entire nation and our values. This funding will provide Muslim communities with the protection they need and deserve, allowing them to live in peace and safety.
“I want a Britain built for all and my government is committed to delivering safer streets for everyone – and that means protecting places of worship from those who seek to divide us through hate and violence.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood described the attack on the Peacehaven Mosque as “an appalling crime, that could easily have led to an even more devastating outcome”.
“I am proud of this country because of the rights we all have to follow the faith of our choosing, and to live free from hatred and fear,” she said. “That right must be defended. Violence and intimidation directed at any community or faith are attacks on us all. We must stand together against those who seek to divide us.”
The announcement comes after The National revealed that a proposal to introduce new laws to protect Muslims from hate in the UK has resulted in a behind the scenes move to quash a recommended definition of Islamophobia.
The UK Home Office highlighted a “clear spike” in anti-Muslim hate crime in August 2024, which coincided with the Southport murders on July 29 and the subsequent rioting in several English towns and cities.
After three girls were killed at dance party in the town, misinformation spread online that the attacker was a Muslim who had arrived in the UK on a small boat. The perpetrator had in reality arrived in the UK as a child from Rwanda and was from a Christian background.
