There is something deeply troubling about a government asking the country to adopt a definition of ‘Islamophobia’ while simultaneously deleting the evidence on which that definition was based. A Freedom of Information request has revealed that the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government has deleted all the submissions made to the working group which drew up the definition.
Shadow justice secretary Nick Timothy MP has now written to Communities Secretary Angela Rayner demanding answers. He asks whether the government received any input from groups subject to a no-contact policy. He asks whether the government will publish a list of those who submitted evidence. These are reasonable questions. The public has a right to know who was calling for this definition – and who wanted an even more restrictive one.
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