Muslim body calls on Labour to stop freezing it out of talks

The head of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has called for an explanation and a review of the government's policy of non-engagement with the body after her appeals for contact during the summer riots were ignored.

- Daniel Boffey

Zara Mohammed, who was elected more than three years ago as the MCB's youngest and first female secretary general, said there had been a "quite shocking" lack of contact with the new government at a time when mobs were targeting Muslims and mosques. The MCB had been "heavily engaged" with Labour's shadow cabinet when the party was in opposition, including a meeting in 2021 between Mohammed and Keir Starmer where they discussed "the importance of engaging with Muslim communities", she said.

Downing Street then ignored attempts to discuss the dangers being posed to Muslim people during the riots, Mohammed said.

Mohammed, 33, whose tenure as MCB leader will end in January, said she hoped ministers would now review the government's "baffling" approach to the UK's largest Muslim umbrella group, which has more than 500 affiliated members including mosques, schools and charities.

She said: "There's been no official communication from government since the election, and when the riots happened, I guess that's where we would have expected [it]. We appreciated that, with any new government, they've got to settle in.