British Muslims fear copycat attack is ‘only a matter of time’

POLICE have stepped up security around British mosques in the wake of the New Zealand shooting, as Muslims fear “it’s only a matter of time” until they fall victim to another far-right attack.

The UK’S counter-terrorism chief said that he would be increasing patrols in the capital following the attack on two mosques that left 49 people dead in Christchurch.

British Muslims called for increased protection and said concern over a copycat attack being carried out in the UK was being compounded by the Government’s recent closure of the places of worship security fund.

The Home Office fund, which enabled communities to apply for security measures to protect against hate crime, has been closed since August 2018.

It allowed places of worship to submit bids for projects, with the Government paying up to £56,000 per establishment for protective security measures.

One senior representative for the Muslim community, who did not want to be named, told The Daily Telegraph that without such safety provisions: “It’s only a matter of time until this could happen in the UK.”

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) has called on the Home Office to reopen the fund “to allay the concerns of the British Muslims and other minority communities about the risk posed to them from far-right hate crime”

Harun Khan, the secretary general of the MCB, offered his condolences to the families of “the most deadly Islamophobic terrorist attack we have witnessed in recent times”.

“As the rest of us prepare to undertake our own Friday prayers today, we do so with the anxiety as to whether our mosques and communities are safe in the face of unabated Islamophobia and hostility against Muslims,” he said.

“I call on our government to redouble its efforts to ensure mosques are protected, and call on fellow Muslims to resist the temptation to roll up the banners in fear, as this attack was designed to do.”

Announcing an increase in police patrols around mosques, Neil Basu, the national policing lead for counter-terrorism, said that the UK was closely monitoring events following the “appalling attack” in New Zealand.

“Today we will be stepping up reassurance patrols around mosques and increasing engagement with communities of all faiths,” he said.

Green Lane mosque in Birmingham also announced plans to tighten security and asked for an increased police presence yesterday.

In 2013, Mohammed Saleem, 75, was stabbed to death after leaving the mosque.

A spokesman for the mosque said it was working closely with officers to reassure the community and the general message was “stay calm but vigilant”. West Midlands Police said there was “no increase to threat”.

There have been a number of Islamophobic terrorist attacks in recent years. In 2017, six worshippers were killed in a shooting at a mosque in Quebec, and a mosque was firebombed in Minnesota, US. In the last two months in the UK, mosques in Newcastle and Manchester have been attacked by vandals who spray-painted Nazi swastikas on the premises.

Earlier this month, Martin Stokes, of north London, was sentenced to five years in jail for intentionally driving into a crowd of worshippers leaving a mosque. It followed the imprisonment of the Finsbury Park terrorist, Darren Osborne, who will spend at least 43 years behind bars after being jailed for life for a van attack at a mosque in 2017.

In October, the Home Office said religious hate crime had risen by 40 per cent in England and Wales in a year, with over half targeted at Muslims.