ABSTRACT
Discrimination on the basis of religion clearly precedes the political recognition afforded to Islamophobia in the late 1990s, as indeed does successive British government’s attempts to engage with different faith and religious issues. The priority goals included the need to strengthen the evidence base for Islamophobia, challenge the role of the media, increase the reporting and recording of Islamophobia, and better understand and subsequently respond to Islamophobia online. While the Conservative-led governments’ approaches to Islamophobia have been at times commendable and promising, it is questionable the extent to which they had any more impact on addressing Islamophobia than its New Labour predecessor. The ‘momentous occasion’ spoken about at the All-Party Parliamentary Group’s 2011 launch appears overblown, the opportunity to address Islamophobia appearing to have been lost. In this respect, it would seem highly unlikely that in the UK Islamophobia will be suitably and appropriately addressed in the foreseeable future.
