It’s finally here.

After years of campaigning by Muslim organisations and communities, against the backdrop of record levels of hate crime, the government has finally chosen the holiest time of Ramadan to publish its definition of what it calls “anti-Muslim hostility”.

And what do we have to show for all that waiting?

A watered-down version of a definition we already had.

The 2018 All-Party Parliamentary Group definition of Islamophobia was endorsed by more than 800 community organisations, over 100 academics, and every major political party except the then-governing Conservatives. It was the result of genuine consultation and rooted in the lived experience of Muslim communities.

So why has it taken this government years to deliver something that appears deliberately diluted? Why was the recommendation of its own independent working group seemingly not good enough? And why, throughout this entire process, were grassroots Muslim organisations largely excluded from meaningful engagement?

This isn’t just about the wording of the definition – though many have already raised serious concerns about what was diluted and why. This is about the process that produced it.

The Macpherson Inquiry established a clear principle: communities must play a central role in defining the racism they experience. Yet that lesson appears to have been ignored.

The process has been marked by exclusion, by hand-picked representatives replacing genuine grassroots engagement, and by a government seemingly more concerned with managing political optics than listening to the communities it claims to protect.
And perhaps the most telling failure of yesterday’s announcement was what the government chose not to say.

In 2016, the UK government adopted the IHRA working definition of antisemitism. That decision was taken quickly and with broad political consensus. Yesterday’s announcement could have been an opportunity to say clearly: we are doing for Muslim communities what we already did for Jewish communities nearly a decade ago.
Instead, that comparison went unspoken.

That matters because bad-faith actors, including much of the British media, have spent years spreading the lie that recognising Islamophobia somehow gives Muslims “special treatment”. The truth is the opposite. British Muslims are not asking for something extraordinary. We are asking for the same recognition and seriousness that other forms of racism rightly receive.

Fairness, not favours.

The key question is where we go from here. Organisations like the Muslim Council of Britain and the Islamophobia Response Unit are not endorsing this definition at the present time. They are reserving judgement, recognising that a definition is merely a starting point.

In 2025, 45% of religious hate crimes in England and Wales targeted Muslims. Words on a page will not stop those attacks. If the government wants to rebuild trust, it must now show that this definition, together with the appointment of a special representative and the launch of the British Muslim Trust, will lead to meaningful action.

That means reforming and properly funding security schemes for mosques. It means tackling the toxic online algorithms where anti-Muslim hatred spreads. And it means ensuring that public institutions are properly equipped to recognise and challenge Islamophobia.

In London, we don’t need a government definition to tell us that Islamophobia is real. We see it in our daily lives. The Panorama investigation into Charing Cross police station exposed shocking anti-Muslim racism among officers meant to protect the public. Muslim women experience regular harassment on our transport network. Our Mosques are regularly attacked.

That’s why I want to see London lead the way in confronting this. The Mayor has spoken about making London a beacon of hope. That promise must now translate into action – from the Metropolitan Police to Transport for London and the London Fire Brigade – with clear commitments to tackle Islamophobia through training, accountability and leadership.

What we have seen from this Labour government so far is a worrying lack of courage. Faced with pressure from those who seek to weaponize fear and division, it has diluted, hesitated and retreated.

But this week’s Liberal Democrat iftar at the London Central Mosque reminded me where real courage lives. Looking around that room – listening to Ed Davey, surrounded by members and supporters from across our party, I saw something Labour has forgotten: that diversity is something to celebrate, champion and defend. A party willing to stand up to the far right, not pander to it. A party that confronts Farage and Reform head-on, rather than retreating in the face of their hatred.
British Muslims deserve better than a definition produced through a broken process. We deserve action. We deserve fairness. And above all, we deserve trust – the kind that can only be built through genuine partnership with the very communities so impacted by racism.

The coming months will show whether this government is willing to rebuild that trust.

But I know where I will continue to find hope: among a party which will always believe that Britain is strongest when we stand together to face down hatred, division and racism in all its forms.

* Hina Bokhari is the Liberal Democrat Leader on the London Assembly and the most prominent elected Muslim within the Liberal Democrats.