The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) Wednesday strongly criticized Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch for comments made during Prime Minister's Questions, accusing her of cynically conflating a definition of Islamophobia with investigations into serious crimes.
The MCB described her remarks as divisive and factually inaccurate, calling on her to retract the claims.
Badenoch had suggested that the APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) on British Muslims' definition of Islamophobia somehow hinders the investigation of serious crimes.
The MCB dismissed this assertion as "completely false," emphasizing that the definition "explicitly" distinguishes between legitimate criminal investigations and racist tropes targeting the Muslim community.
The APPG's definition of Islamophobia describes it as: "Rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness."
The MCB highlighted that the definition specifically addresses the harmful stereotype of collectively associating Muslims with crimes such as grooming, which has been debunked by multiple investigations and studies.
The MCB pointed to government and independent research to refute Badenoch's claims.
According to the Home Office's 2020 findings and the Centre of Expertise on Child Sexual Abuse's 2022/23 data, group-based child sexual exploitation offenders are most commonly white.
The MCB argued that these findings undermine what it described as "inflammatory insinuations" by Badenoch.
In a statement, Zara Mohammed, the secretary-general of the MCB, said: "Let me be absolutely clear-British Muslims unequivocally support the thorough investigation and prosecution of all child abusers, regardless of background. The MCB will support yet another investigation if proponents can explain why previous inquiries costing millions have not given them the answers they are looking for."
She criticized efforts to exploit child protection issues as a means of demonizing British Muslims, accusing Badenoch of pursuing a divisive agenda.
"Those who seek to weaponise this issue against Muslims have already received answers they didn't want from previous inquiries. Yet they persist in pursuing a divisive agenda rather than focusing on protecting children through evidence-based approaches," Mohammed added.
