The Muslim Council of Britain has released a statement following the outrageous and cowardly attacks which occurred in New Zealand which have resulted in the tragic loss of 49 innocent lives.
The statement reads:
‘The Muslim Council of Britain today condemns the horrific, cowardly and Islamophobic terrorist attacks that have taken place in New Zealand today.
‘Almost 50 people are said to have been murdered at two mosques at Christchurch.
‘The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda
Harun Khan, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain offered his condolences to the families. He said:
“This is the most deadly Islamophobic terrorist attack we have witnessed in recent times.
“It would seem that Brenton Tarrant’s murderous intention was to target Muslims at their places of worship and on their sacred day.
“Reports suggested the attacker is on record spouting hate against Muslims and other minority communities.
“My condolences to the families affected.
“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.
“I call on our government to redouble its efforts to ensure mosques are
In the UK, in the last two months alone, two mosques in Newcastle and Manchester have been attacked by vandals who spray-painted Nazi swastika symbols, Martin Stokes of North London was sentenced to 5 years in jail for intentionally driving into a crowd of worshippers exiting a mosque, and last October the Home Office reported that religious hate crime rocketed by 40 per cent across England and Wales in just one year, with more than half targeted at Muslims.A
The statement released by the Muslim Council of Britain continued:
‘We ask the UK Government:
‘1. To re-open the Places of Worship Security Fund run by the Home Office with funding available proportionate to the risk Muslim communities face. We note that it is currently closed, has been since August 2018 and is not open for further applications at present. We ask why it is not open on a continual basis in similarity to other faith groups, when it will re-open and what it is doing today to allay the concerns of the British Muslim and other minority communities about the risk posed to them from far-right hate crime?
‘2. With Britain about to leave the European Union (EU), we ask what the UK Government is doing to tackle the potential rise in far-right attacks against British Muslims and other minority communities, as was seen just after the Brexit referendum in June 2016, including the murder of West Yorkshire MP Jo Cox by 52-year-old Thomas Mair, who the Judge when sentencing him to life in prison, said he was motivated by “admiration for Nazis and similar anti-democratic white supremacist creeds.”
‘3. Last November, the APPG on British Muslims published a definition of Islamophobia, based on
Tribute
Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, has condemned the attacks and said “this will be one of New Zealand’s darkest days”.
Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, tweeted:
“In response to the horrific attack in New Zealand, I am in constant contact with @MetPoliceUK who are stepping up reassurance patrols around mosques and increasing engagement with communities of all faiths”.
A spokesperson for Hope Not Hate said:
“We have seen the terrible news that many people have been murdered in a terrorist attack in New Zealand.
“It is heartbreaking. Our thoughts go out to the families of the dead and wounded, to the Muslim community in NZ and around the world. Stay strong. Kia Kaha.
“The bloody terrorist attack in Christchurch was carried out by a
“The terrorist’s manifesto uses the stock phrases of the
“An increasing number of
“In Oslo and Utøya, Charlottesville, Pittsburgh, and in so many places around the world, this violent ideology destroys lives and rips families apart.
“We send our love to the families affected and stand in solidarity with the communities under attack”.
Got a story, video or one-off blog that you would like to share with us?
You can contact our team of former emergency services & armed forces personnel either through our Facebook page, via Twitter ( @ES_News_ ) or you can contact us via email: contact@emergency-services.news or call us on: 0115 888 0592
If you run or manage a ‘job’ social media account and you would like us to share one of your stories then send us a tweet or a message!
If you would like to write an article that you would like us to share (it can be about anything to do with the emergency services / NHS) whether you serve in the emergency services / NHS or whether you are a member of the public who has had a good experience with the emergency services, then feel free to contact our team; anonymously if you prefer.
We are proud to act as a voice for the emergency services, armed forces & health service, with over 500,000 people visiting our website each month.
Support our news, stories and blogs —>
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
