Tower Hamlets

Met Police confirm that criticism of Islam constitutes ‘Islamophobia’

The Metropolitan Police Service report 'Hate Crimes against London's Muslim Communities' was published five years ago, and it outlines the everyday nature of Islamophobic incidents: The Islamophobic incidents reported to and recorded by the Metropolitan Police Service generally occur as…

Spiritual influence: bullying voters with threats of hell is no different from threats of physical violence

August 23, 2016
233 Comments

Following the 2015 Tower Hamlets election court judgment which saw the disqualification of the elected mayor Lutfur Rahman for a number of corrupt and illegal practices, Sir Eric Pickles…

Muslim ghettos and the "muscular" approach to integration

April 12, 2016
276 Comments

When, a decade ago, the Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali was warning of Muslim 'no-go areas', where sharia police stalk the streets and the real police fear to tread…

Mohammed, not Oliver, is UK's most popular baby name for boys

August 18, 2015
150 Comments

According to the Office for National Statistics, 6,649 baby boys were named Oliver last year, making it the most popular baby name for boys born in the UK. This…

The undue political interference of 'undue spiritual influence'

May 15, 2015
73 Comments

Giles Fraser (pictured centre) has written a perfectly-pitched (yes, indeed) piece, 'Is it one rule for the Hindus and another for the Muslims?', which relates to the judgment in…

Homophobia, Islamophobia and the triumph of ideological 'Truth'

March 22, 2015
258 Comments

Christianophobia has never really caught on. Perhaps it is a clumsy etymological construction: three syllables before '-ophobia' is at least one phonetic unit too many, and it isn't at…

Let’s stop reviling Islam with ‘Islamism’, and call the cult what it really is

March 8, 2015
371 Comments

Rather like the Naming of Cats, the classifying of Islamic sects is a difficult matter, and it’s certainly not just one of your Eid-Al-Fitr games. As we’ve witnessed the…

If imams may not influence voters, why should priests or bishops?

February 5, 2015
410 Comments

According to Dominic Kennedy, Investigations Editor of The Times, there is an 18th-century law which prohibits the 'spiritual influence' of the electorate in the process of democracy. He writes…

Age UK: Christian stickers might invalidate car insurance policies

February 1, 2015
139 Comments

Admittedly, the Rev'd Wena Parry's mobile insignia is not of the same order of subtlety as your average 'Jesus ♥ You' bumper sticker. But who is to judge? If…

Eric Pickles: Jihad will be defeated by the "guiding principles of the English Reformation"

September 5, 2014
0 Comments

Since Sayeeda Warsi left the Government, the Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP has assumed direct responsibility for matters of faith. They were, of course, always under the aegis as Secretary…