Arab News | UK Home Office gives mosques $88m in emergency security funding after Southport riots

LONDON: The UK Home Office provided mosques and Muslim community sites with a record £66 million ($87.3 million) in emergency security funding following the 2024 Southport riots, new figures have revealed, amid growing concerns over anti-Muslim hostility in the UK.

The money accounted for almost all of the £69 million distributed to places of worship under an emergency scheme introduced as violent disorder spread across Britain following the killing of three girls at a dance class in Southport, The Guardian reported on Friday.

Mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers were among the sites targeted during the unrest after false claims circulated online that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.

The figures, obtained by The Guardian through a freedom of information request, showed that security spending on Muslim places of worship has risen sharply in recent years.

Separate funding provided to mosques, Islamic schools and associated sites under the government’s protective security scheme increased from just over £73,000 in 2016-17 to about £3 million in 2022-23 and £29 million in 2024-25. It reached a record £41 million in the year to April 2026.

Akeela Ahmed, chief executive of the British Muslim Trust, which works with the government to monitor anti-Muslim hatred, said the figures reflected the increasing threats faced by Muslim communities.

“Security needs are increasing as a direct response to the increase in attacks that mosques are under,” she told The Guardian.

The trust reported in July that a mosque had been attacked on average every five days across Britain during the previous year.

Those concerns have been felt at individual places of worship. Birmingham’s Jami community center reported at least five hate crime and racially aggravated criminal damage incidents between March and July this year, according to West Midlands Police.

Windows had been smashed and Islamophobic graffiti sprayed at the site, prompting the center to install its own gates and blackout boards while awaiting security funding, according to The Guardian.

The British Muslim Trust has called for greater efforts to tackle the causes of anti-Muslim hatred rather than relying solely on increased security.

The Home Office said £40 million had been made available to help protect Muslim communities through security schemes this year, part of a record £77.4 million allocated to security for faith communities in 2026-27.

The department said it was working to process outstanding applications as quickly as possible.