Local Election Pledges 2024
On the 2nd of May, England will go to the polls to vote in their next local councillor, including 10 regional metro mayors. This year has revealed unprecedented societal challenges facing British Muslims: including threats to their representation, safety, and financial security. The following is a suggested list of cross-party pledges, informed by initial MCB survey insights, that you may wish to present to your candidates, in addition to issues that you feel are important in your local area.
1. Tackling Islamophobia
A) Strongly advocate for the adoption of the APPG definition of Islamophobia in your region or area: (“Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”)
B) Actively challenge narratives, especially from parliamentarians or leading officials, that spread false and/or bigoted claims about minority groups, including Muslims or those perceived to be.
C) Commit to stamping out hate crime by ensuring access to dedicated local online tools to report hate crime swiftly, including actively encouraging use of these platforms.
2. Tackling the cost-of-living crisis
A) Pinpoint financially vulnerable communities within your area and work with the Government to establish local and regional initiatives such as food crisis funds.
B) Recognise the role of local area mosques and community centres in fundraising and stakeholder outreachand proactively engage with them.
3. Championing human and citizenship rights in politics
A) Commit to recognising that British public have a right to peacefully protest, locally or nationally, including protesting UK government action. This specifically includes protecting the rights of the British public to advocate and support Palestinian Human rights and self-determination.
B) Call upon the Government to uphold our international commitments, and advocate for the protection of refugee and asylum seeker rights enshrined in international law.
C) Demonstrate a sincere commitment to refugee resettlement programs in your area, in accordance with local resource provisions.
4. Tackling inequalities: health, housing, and employment
Health:
A) Promote better awareness of, and access to, local health services, particularly for members of minority communities. This may include expanded language access in GP surgeries where applicable.
B) A sincere commitment to increasing public health funding for areas of the UK where the ethnic demographic is disproportionately affected by systemic health inequalities, such as South-Asian genetic proclivity to Type 2 diabetes.
Employment:
A) Commitment to tackle the ‘triple penalty’ Muslim women face in employment – on the grounds of being a woman, from an ethnic minority background, and Muslim. This includes the implementation of effective diversity and inclusion schemes if deemed appropriate.
Housing:
A) Advocating for improved regulation of the private housing sector.
B) Promoting government schemes to facilitate young people to get on the property ladder.
5. Investing in youth and education
A) Commit to working with local institutions and schools to decrease numbers of young people falling into youth crime – from prevention to intervention.
This may involve:
- Investing in specialised intervention programs that target youth already involved in youth crime, namely knife crime
- Creating pathways to employment for young people in disadvantaged communities, such as effective job mentoring schemes and a commitment to championing apprenticeship opportunities
B) Advocate for Islamically-compliant student loans to be made available (alongside current student finance options) to encourage young Muslims to enter university education without compromising their beliefs.
C) Commit to the implementation and/or protection of faith-based provisions in primary and secondary schools – such as prayer rooms and appropriate uniform alterations (particularly for female Muslim students).
D) Consult with trusted Muslim bodies to improve current teaching materials on PSHE and religious studies lessons to encourage the spread of accurate representations of faith groups.