Ruth Cadbury MP: Standing up against religious hatred

Following a series of community Iftars, Ruth Cadbury, MP for Brentford & Isleworth, explores the progress made in combating discrimination and the work still to be done in this week’s column.

Back in 2004 when the late Queen Elizabeth gave her Christmas address she spoke of a visitor to the UK who said that his favourite part of being in the UK was taking the Piccadilly line into central London from Heathrow. For many local people the journey is a regular, even daily, essential, but for this traveller the Piccadilly line was a memorable journey.

He spoke glowingly about the journey for the simple reason that, ‘‘At each stop children got on and off – they were of every ethnic and religious background, some with scarves or turbans, some talking quietly, others playing and occasionally misbehaving together – completely at ease and trusting one another. ‘How lucky you are,’ said the visitor, ‘to live in a country where your children can grow up this way.’’’

This story puts into words just how lucky we are to live in such a welcoming and diverse corner of west London.

We live in a community where people of all faiths and none live, work and learn next to each other. This message stayed with me during this year’s Ramadan as I visited Iftars across our constituency to break the fast with Muslims and non-Muslims.

The simple act of sharing a meal, sitting down with friends and strangers, and learning more about another faith group is something that cannot be overvalued. I attended Iftars over the last few weeks at Hounslow Jamia Masjid, Hounslow Muslim Centre and West Thames College. I’ve really valued the chance to see so many old and new faces.

One thing that has saddened me is the increase in hostile comments that I’ve seen on social media and in the news about Iftars and Muslims across the UK. There has been a clear increase over the past decade in hateful and bigoted comments, including comments which question the rights of British Muslims to take part in public life and for parliamentarians to engage with them. It is a matter of principle for me to stand up against this harmful and exclusionary rhetoric. It’s particularly worrying for me because I have heard firsthand from constituents about the hate crimes and abuse that British Muslims have faced; one woman told me how she had her headscarf ripped off on the street while she was subjected to abuse.

We should also not forget the long history religious discrimination has here in the UK. In the 13th century Jews were expelled from the UK and later Catholics, Jews and Quakers were banned from voting and from holding public office.

We have made so much progress in my lifetime in combating religious hatred and discrimination, but we should never lose sight of this history of religious discrimination. Muslims are not alone in facing increases in hate crimes; we have also seen hate crimes and attacks against Jews increase.

This is why I believe as an MP it is important that I not only represent everyone of all faiths but also that we stand up against attempts to divide our communities on the basis of race or religion.