Mosques in Britain received a record level of taxpayer money for security, even before the anti-mass migration protests and riots over the summer.
According to government figures obtained under freedom of information requests by the left-wing Guardian newspaper, mosques in the United Kingdom were given nearly three million pounds sterling to subsidise their security between April 2022 and April 2023.
This represented a drastic increase in money taken in by mosques, with the government having only provided the Islamic institutions with around £73,000 between 2016 and 2017.
This correlated with a large increase in the number of Muslim institutions applying for such security aid, increasing from just 36 in 2016 to 304 between April 2023 and 2024.
The Mosques received the funding under the government’s ‘protective security schemes for places of worship’ established in 2016. Last year, the previous Conservative government carved out a specific funding mechanism within the framework for Muslim places of worship, known as the ‘Protective Security for Mosques Scheme’, which had £29.4 million in taxpayer money available for mosques and Muslim schools.
A separate and smaller scheme was also set up for the British Jewish community, with £18 million allocated to protect Jewish communities. The government has claimed that the disparity in funding results from there being more Muslim institutions and mosques than Jewish institutions and syogogues.
The figures published by the Guardian do not include funding requests from mosques in Britain during and in the aftermath of the anti-mass migration riots and protests which erupted over the summer following the mass stabbing at a children’s dance party in the sleepy coastal town of Southport.
The attack, which left three young girls dead and several others wounded, sparked widespread speculation on social media in the information vacuum left by the authorities after, including false rumours that the attacker was a Muslim who had entered the country illegally.
In reality, the alleged attacker turned out to be a second-generation migrant from the African nation of Rwanda who was born in Wales.
Critics of the government and police response to the mass stabbing, such as Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, have argued that the failure to disclose the identity of the suspect spurred the false narratives, which reportedly spurred attacks on some mosques.
Following the attack and subsequent outbreak of disorder, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, rather than addressing the anger over mass migration into the country, chose to focus heavily on the fear among Muslims in Britain, including “emergency security” protection on top of the money already dedicated towards mosques.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is paramount every community feels safe, especially in places of worship. That is why we introduced the protective security for mosques scheme.
“In response to public disorder in August, we introduced a rapid protective security response process for places of worship, and we have provided additional security for hundreds of mosques across the country.”