Anti-Islamophobia group Inform Mama ought to face inquiry, says Muslim peer | Islamophobia

A number one Muslim peer has referred to as for an inquiry into the Islamophobia monitoring group Inform Mama over considerations a couple of “lack of transparency” on how it’s spending public cash.

Shaista Gohir, the chief government of the Muslim Girls’s Community UK, has additionally accused Inform Mama of failing to supply detailed knowledge on anti-Muslim hate crimes, being “silent” when politicians have focused Muslims, and questioned whether or not the Tories used it as a automobile to watch extremism.

Inform Mama denied the claims and described the thought it was secretly getting used to sort out Muslim extremism as a “slur”. It mentioned it usually reviews “in keeping with the federal government’s due processes” and that no points had been raised with the group by officers.

Woman Gohir mentioned the general public had a proper to understand how taxpayers’ cash had been spent by Inform Mama. “We want an inquiry as a result of, in case you take a look at the questions, they’re quite simple: how a lot was spent on salaries? How a lot was spent on consultancy charges?”

Inform Mama has been the federal government’s key accomplice in monitoring anti-Muslim hatred for 13 years, however its authorities funding was abruptly paused earlier this month, resulting in fears it might shut at a time when anti-Muslim hate incidents have elevated.

The religion minister, Wajid Khan, mentioned “ministers do not need considerations about monetary, structural or governance points in respect of Inform Mama”.

Nonetheless, the federal government mentioned it might launch an “open bidding course of” for the contract to watch anti-Muslim hatred and to assist victims, opening Inform Mama as much as competitors for the primary time. It didn’t reply questions from the Guardian as to why.

Parliamentarians from each homes have privately informed the Guardian of their considerations about Inform Mama.

Gohir, a cross-party peer, had been elevating questions in parliament and in letters to communities ministers beneath the earlier Conservative administration for greater than a 12 months earlier than the funding wrangle.

Sayeeda Warsi, the previous chair of the Conservative social gathering who was concerned in Inform Mama’s founding, described the group on X as “unfit for objective”.

However others have rallied to its defence, together with the life peer Kishwer Falkner, who raised the difficulty of its funding within the Home of Lords final month, asking for reassurance that “reasonable Muslim teams” have been worthy of assist.

Inform Mama has acquired £6m in funding since 2012 and has now confirmed that, after intensive negotiations with the federal government, it has secured funding for work accomplished in 2024-25, with extra supplied.

The service is run by a community-interest firm, Religion Issues, so it isn’t sure by the identical stringent guidelines as charities with regards to publishing an itemised breakdown of its spending.

Inform Mama’s chief government, Iman Atta, mentioned the organisation can be “completely happy to cooperate with anyone relating to using public funds”.

Religion Issues, based in 2007 by the previous Liberal Democrat councillor Fiyaz Mughal, specialises in interfaith work and battle decision. In 2012, it launched the Inform Mama mission. Mughal stays Religion Issues’ director.

Atta denied Gohir’s assertion that the organisation was silent when Tories made damaging remarks on Muslims, citing previous challenges to figures reminiscent of Boris Johnson, and insisted Inform Mama didn’t do any work to sort out Muslim extremism and that it had by no means acquired any funding from Forestall, the UK’s counter-terrorism technique.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Native Authorities mentioned it was “dedicated to offering a complete service to watch anti-Muslim hatred and supply assist for victims” and would “quickly be opening a name for grant purposes to make sure we will meet the challenges communities face immediately”, to which Inform Mama is welcome to use.

Atta mentioned: “We hope that whichever organisation is profitable within the open-grant course of is ready to proceed this work with urgency, dedication and dedication”, at a time when “far-right actions” and “incidents of anti-Muslim hatred are on the rise”.