Firstly, I wish Ramadan Mubarak to all those who observe.
The United Kingdom celebrates the role of faith in our national life, including the contributions of our vibrant Muslim communities.
We are committed to building a United Kingdom where all our religious and non-religious communities feel safe and valued and we are dedicated to promoting inclusivity, understanding and respect across our society.
The United Kingdom reiterates its strong commitment to protecting and promoting freedom of religion or belief or “FoRB”.
We remain deeply concerned about the severity and scale of FoRB violations and abuses in many parts of the world.
We continue to work hard to shift the dial on FoRB for all everywhere, as we stand up for the rights of all individuals.
This commitment includes the work of our recently appointed UK Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, David Smith MP.
We are clear in our position the UK unequivocally condemns incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, wherever this occurs and we denounce hatred on the basis of religion or belief.
No-one should be targeted because of their faith.
Like many countries, we have seen an increase in Islamophobia, anti-Muslim hate crime, alongside a rise in antisemitism.
Again, we reiterate our strong position these incidents have no place in our – or any – society.
The UK is working to address hatred and intolerance at its roots. This year we committed over £1 million to monitor Islamophobia and support victims of anti-Muslim hate crimes.
As part of our work to combat Islamophobia, last month the UK government launched a new working group to provide a definition of anti-Muslim hate and Islamophobia.
This new definition will allow us to better understand, quantify, and tackle anti-Muslim hate crime, while also ensuring that the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to critique religions and religious beliefs, remains protected.
People must be allowed to discuss and debate issues freely, challenge their governments peacefully, exercise the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion and speak out against violations of human rights wherever they occur.
Mr President, we recognise the vital role of interfaith dialogue in supporting communities and combatting intolerance.
We have dedicated funding for projects that encourage such dialogue. Last year, following the UK’s Inter Faith Week, which we were pleased to support, we have funded the UK’s Faith and Belief Forum to deliver a post-Inter Faith Week consultation and analysis project.
This will strengthen our understanding of the interfaith space and inform the development of effective, future-facing policies to support interfaith relations across the UK.
There is still much work to be done to address Islamophobia.
The UK remains committed to promoting mutual respect between different religious and non-religious communities in the UK and globally.
Today is a reminder that we must work individually and collectively with our religious communities and with each other to build understanding and fight against hatred.
