Every police force in England and Wales will be required to record anti-Muslim hate crimes and treat them as seriously as anti-Semitic attacks if the Tories win the next General Election, Theresa May has announced.
In a move hailed by Islamic groups, Mrs May said that police will have to record Islamophobic attacks as a separate category, just as anti-Semitic crimes are recorded separately.
At present some forces, including London’s Metropolitan Police, do record Islamophobic crimes as such. Other forces categorise them as hate crimes or specific offences such as assault or grievous bodily harm.
The new requirement will create the first accurate picture of the extent of Islamophobic hate crimes in Britain.
Charities say there has been a steady rise of anti-Muslim hate crimes since 9/11.
But after incidents such as the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby outside Woolwich barracks in 2013 and the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January, there are spikes in incidents in the UK, say experts.
Mrs May made her pledge in a speech on counter-extremism to the Foundation for Peace in London just before Parliament was dissolved.
She told the conference: ‘We will require police forces to record anti-Muslim crimes as well as anti-Semitic crimes.’ Read on and comment » | Abul Taher for the Mail On Sunday | Saturday, April 04, 2015
