Redefining Islamophobia will ‘weaken terror policing’

BRITAIN will be at greater risk from terrorism under plans for a new definition of Islamophobia, a former police chief and senior QC warn today.

A paper by Policy Exchange warns that terror suspects will be able to challenge counter-terror police operations by accusing officers of Islamophobia.

Lord Carlisle, a former independent reviewer of terror legislation, says in a foreword that counter-terrorism policy would be “thrown into turmoil”.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims published a report in November that urged the Government to adopt a new definition of Islamophobia.

The definition states: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.”

Richard Walton, a former head of counter-terror policing at the Met Police, who co-authored the Policy Exchange report, warns: “The vast majority of these operations are against Islamists. Should the UK contest [counter-terrorism] strategy be judged through the prism of the APPG Islamophobia definition, individuals ... will be afforded an opportunity to challenge and label any operational activity by the police service and intelligence agencies as Islamophobic targeting.”

Trevor Phillips, the former chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, earlier warned the new definition would be a “grave mistake”.

He said defining Muslims as a race would “actually make life harder for them” and that it would “reduce the lives of British Muslims … to the status of perpetual victims and pawns in some wider battle”.