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The Muslim Council of Britain calls for renewed partnership with British Muslim communities as Andy Burnham is announced as the new Prime Minister today from. The challenges facing British Muslim communities requires honest leadership and integrity with faith communities.
Dr Wajid Akther, Secretary General of MCB said: “Andy Burnham arrives in Downing Street at a moment when the country is in need of a genuine change of direction, not merely a change of face at the top. For nearly a decade we have experienced a worsening cost of living crisis that continues to squeeze families, opportunity remains out of reach for too many young people, and trust in politics itself has worn dangerously thin whilst politicians and media are busy perpetuating hateful narratives. What our country needs is investment that reaches beyond the usual centres of power, and a serious plan for young people who have grown up watching opportunity narrow rather than widen. His premiership will be judged on whether it meets this moment, for every community that calls this country home.”
In Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham governed in a way that treated communities as partners rather than problems to be managed, and we hope that local approach now travels with him into government. That means engaging British Muslim communities meaningfully through the representative bodies and civic institutions whose legitimacy comes from the people they represent and serve, not through gatekeepers handpicked by those in government.
His acknowledgement during the leadership campaign that Labour “didn’t get it right” on Gaza was a step in the right direction, but words of recognition mean little unless matched by a foreign policy grounded in international law that upholds human rights of all and by a domestic reckoning with Islamophobia as the structural problem it is, rather than the afterthought it has been treated as by successive governments.
Zaynab who is 18 from Leicester says: “I want the Prime Minister to make sure young British Muslims feel they have the same opportunities as everyone else. That means tackling Islamophobia – a huge issue in society today which is decaying many young muslims’ confidence, investing in youth services and support the education system and creating real pathways into employment which is difficult for young British Muslims. That means backing young entrepreneurs, improving access to internships and apprenticeships, and ensuring talent, not background or faith determines opportunity. Most importantly, not see young Muslims as a community to manage but see us as a generation to empower and support”.
Dr Wajid Akhter further says: “Britain does not lack talent, ambition or resilience. What it has lacked is a government with the will to invest in all of its people and build a brighter future worth inheriting, rather than engage in low grade culture wars. That is the test Mr Burnham’s government now faces, and it is one we hope to see it rise to.”
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