In mid-March, UK publication The Guardian reported that the British government had allegedly cut future funding for the region’s leading anti-Muslim hate crime watchdog, which was met with divisive opinions.
Tell Mama, a monitoring group formed in 2012, has faced cross-party scrutiny over its reported affiliations, finances, quality of work, and authority.
However, last week, the UK government confirmed the availability of funds for Tell Mama — albeit under certain conditions — leading to questions over whether this will significantly hinder the effective combatting of Islamophobic hate in the UK.
According to the monitoring group, Israel’s 16-month assault on Gaza and the Southport murders, followed by far-right riots nationwide, triggered a surge in anti-Muslim hate crimes in the UK, documenting almost 11,000 cases over the past year alone, with 9,600 confirmed cases.
The UK-based institution emphasised that anti-Muslim hate had reached record levels.
Separately, police figures illustrated that Muslims were the most targeted religious community in England and Wales, accounting for 38 percent of discriminatory incidents recorded up to last March.
Following the release of the report, accusations continued to mount against Tell Mama’s conduct. The Guardian stated that no grant had so far been issued to the organisation, which would lead to its closure.
A bombshell article published by The Byline Times last year claimed that the UK watchdog significantly underreported incidents of anti-Muslim hate crime, with a 90% underreporting rate between 2017 and 2022.
"Police figures illustrated that Muslims were the most targeted religious community in England and Wales"
The 2024 report cited figures from Tell Mama, which were reportedly "consistently lower than anti-Muslim hate crime statistics published by the Home Office based on police data."
The police data itself was said to have been found to underestimate the true scale of hate crimes routinely.
Former Conservative chair Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a prominent British Muslim figure who was an early supporter of Tell Mama being funded by the government during her time as a minister in David Cameron’s cabinet, backed the reported move to henceforth cut Tell Mama’s funding following criticisms of the group.
In a post on X, she argued that "sadly over the years too many questions have arisen which in my view make the organisation unfit for purpose."
Responding to The Byline Times investigation, Tell Mama previously emphasised that "it is impossible to record all hate crimes and particularly difficult given the scale, nature, geographical location and nationality of British Muslims from over 50 Muslim-majority countries."
After reports that ministers had decided to withdraw all funding for Tell Mama as a result, Faith Minister Lord Khan of Burnley told Parliament on March 13 that £1 million was, in fact, available for Tell Mama upon signing the government grant funding agreement.
He added that there will, going forward, impose an open bidding process for multiple groups to also apply for a government grant to offer Islamophobia monitoring services.
Lord Khan underlined that "funding for Tell Mama has not ended" and explained that all organisations must sign a standard government agreement to issue government funds, as he said Tell Mama had not signed theirs.
A spokesperson for the organisation insisted in a conversation with The New Arab that "there is no firm confirmation of any funding post the 31st of March 2025."
Speaking to The New Arab, the Tell Mama spokesperson added that the organisation is also "not in a position to state where the work will be in two weeks and this is the current position."
The representative questioned the government’s plans to introduce an open bidding process for future funding — adding that the group is increasingly concerned about the potential impact this change could have on the continuity and effectiveness of support for victims.
"[The] government has every right to make choices but how this was done has been troubling, and where public policy seems to have been made through private discussions behind closed doors," The Tell Mama spokesperson stressed.
"We are very concerned since the Government has no transition arrangements in place. And given there will be no support in place for victims of anti-Muslim hate at a time when anti-Muslim hate has hit record high in 2024."
In a previous interview with The Guardian, Tell Mama founder Fiyaz Mughal accused the current UK Labour government of "saying one thing and doing another," after UK Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced the formation of a working group, led by former Tory minister Dominic Grieve, to define Islamophobia and create a framework amid rising Islamophobia.
The former Conservative government cancelled plans to appoint Mughal as its independent adviser on anti-Muslim hatred last March, following another Byline Times report that investigated the Tell Mama founder.
The report alleged that Mughal had suppressed a Tell Mama-funded report on the Tories' connections to Islamophobic and antisemitic political parties.
"We are deeply concerned by the decision to withdraw funding to Tell MAMA, particularly at a time when Muslim communities face spiralling risks of encountering anti-Muslim hatred online, in person and at places of worship"
However, the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) endorsed Tell Mama’s work, regarding the group as a long-standing key partner, as it expressed fears that policing could become severely disrupted.
"National police leaders have collaborated with Tell MAMA since its establishment in 2012. Over the years, we have cultivated a strong and effective relationship, and we have maintained an Information Sharing Agreement that permits the sharing of data without compromising the anonymity of victims who wish to remain so," an NPCC spokesperson told The New Arab.
The spokesperson continued: "In the wake of critical incidents in the United Kingdom and globally, including the events of October 7 2023, we have witnessed marked increases in hate crime and tensions.
"Tell MAMA and similar organisations that support other communities have provided invaluable insights and reporting data. These contributions have allowed for the effective analysis of community tensions and informed actions to reduce such tensions."
The University of Leicester’s Centre for Hate Studies, which collaborated with Tell Mama in previous years, stated that losing access to Tell Mama would stoke further tensions amid increasing Islamophobia post-7 October.
"We are deeply concerned by the decision to withdraw funding to Tell MAMA, particularly at a time when Muslim communities face spiralling risks of encountering anti-Muslim hatred online, in person and at places of worship," Professor Neil Chakraborti, the centre's director, said in a statement last Monday.
"Without the crucial role that Tell MAMA play in working with the police and other agencies to counter the mainstreaming of anti-Muslim hostility, fewer hate incidents will be reported, fewer victims will be supported and fewer potential threats will be identified."
Conversely, other groups are pushing calls to enhance efforts to amplify a diverse range of voices within the community to better support Muslims, particularly in light of the growing uncertainty surrounding the documentation of Islamophobia in Britain.
Muslim-led organisation Muslim Engagement and Development (MEND) told The New Arab that recent developments now present a unique opportunity for the British government to work with grassroots Muslim groups.
MEND has backed criticisms of Tell Mama's "problematic" reporting on Islamophobia, as it also accused founder Fiyaz Mughal of suggesting that "the Muslim community has a 'victim mentality'."
The group’s CEO Linsay Taylor told The New Arab that her group has therefore urged "that a coordinated strategy is implemented across all law enforcement agencies and authorities to work to build trust within communities to ensure victims of hate crimes can feel confident in reporting.
"MEND also calls upon the government to reallocate its funding to legitimately grassroots civil society bodies who work to record cases of Islamophobia and provide support to victims.
"We encourage the government to proactively seek out and establish ties with such organisations as soon as possible to help our community stand up to hatred and bigotry."
The government has endorsed the British Muslim Network (BMN), a new body launched last month to facilitate engagement with the government.
Opponents have questioned the BMN's credibility following its launch, cautioning that the government might use the network to sidestep engaging with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), the largest representative body of British Muslims, with over 500 member organisations.
This follows Labour's decision to adopt the previous government’s policy of non-engagement with the MCB after the former administration under Rishi Sunak claimed that "previous MCB leaders have taken positions that contradict our fundamental values, and these have not been explicitly retracted."
However, the BMN's leadership has insisted that its aim is not to undermine the MCB’s position.
"The government must actively engage with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and other grassroots community-based organisations to ensure that the voices of those directly affected by Islamophobia are heard and included in decision-making processes," Taylor told The New Arab.
"Given the lack of meaningful engagement, it is crucial that we see a significant shift in approach."
Taylor said the organisation is a member of the Islamophobia Action Group, which is "a coalition of diverse Muslim organisations that came together after the summer riots to call for the government to adopt the [All-Party Parliamentary Group] APPG definition of Islamophobia and engage directly with Muslim-led organisations."
She added: "A shift in media and political rhetoric is essential, promoting accurate representations of Muslims to combat harmful stereotypes. Finally, the government must commit to real change, ensuring policies lead to tangible outcomes and genuine engagement with Muslim communities to address their concerns effectively."
The Tell Mama group has previously denied allegations regarding the documentation of Islamophobic hate crimes while acknowledging in past statements that "significant under-reporting of anti-Muslim hate takes place and this is a real issue."
Tell Mama is entirely funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Times reported that, as of March 20, the group had yet to receive £500,000 from last year’s grant.
However, the publication, citing an unnamed source, said that negotiations are still ongoing and could result in a six-month extension to its funding.
Assiah Hamed is a staff writer at The New Arab
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