The under-construction South Lakes Islamic Centre, Dalton-in-Furness, UK
How UK’s Hard Right Is Attacking An Independent Press Over Muslims
“Labour Isn’t Listening”: The Party Is Not Engaging With British Muslims
In early October 2023, I was sitting in a car with a close friend outside a wedding. Music played softly in the background as our conversation turned reflective. I asked him, “When
will our generation’s moment come?”
The generation before us had their moments: 9/11, the War on Terror, the invasion of Iraq. Those events politicized its, shaped its worldview, forged its instincts. “What will define us?” I wondered.
Days later, the horror of Hamas’s assault inside Israel unfolded, followed by Israel’s genocidal response in Gaza. The scale of violence was devastating, but so was the response from Britain’s political leaders: silence, equivocation, even complicity.
For many British Muslims, this was not just foreign policy failure. It was a breaking point. It crystallized a feeling that had been building for years: our loyalty was expected but our values were expendable.
For decades, the UK’s Muslims have been loyal allies of the political left. But after years of broken promises, rising Islamophobia, and ideological alienation, more and more are asking a fundamental question: where do we go from here?
The answer lies not in doubling down on outdated alliances, nor in waiting for others to make room for us. It lies in something more urgent and more honest: forging our own political path — one rooted in moral pragmatism.
When I speak of moral pragmatism, I mean a politics that delivers real benefits to our country, our families, and our communities, but is always guided by morality. It means acting with fairness, integrity, equality, and respect for all.
Nelson Mandela once said, “A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.” That is moral pragmatism: politics that thinks clearly and feels deeply. Too often, we are told to choose between values and results, between conscience and effectiveness. We need both. We must reject both moral posturing and empty pragmatism in favor of action that is ethical and effective.
We have seen what happens when that balance is lost. If the Iraq War defined the political awakening of a generation of Muslims in the early 2000s, then Gaza marks the moment in 2025. What cuts deepest is not only the devastation abroad, but the collapse of moral leadership at home. Under Keir Starmer, Labour abandoned principle for calculation, punishing dissent and treating calls for justice as a threat.
For British Muslims, this is not just disillusionment. It is a reckoning. The moment I wondered about has arrived.
Awakenings are never easy: they force us to face hard truths about where we’ve been and where we must go.
A Legacy of Loyalty and Disillusionment
Many of our families arrived in Britain during the post-war era as citizens of the Commonwealth, helping to rebuild the nation as labourers, factory workers, National Health Service staff, and transport workers. Our parents and grandparents did not just settle here. They kept the lights on, trains running, and hospitals open. Decades later, during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was Muslim doctors, nurses, and pharmacists who stood on the frontlines, serving at great personal cost.
Our story is woven into Britain’s recovery and its progress. That working-class identity aligned with Labour’s ethos. The party became the default choice, not out of blind loyalty but because it reflected the realities of our shared national life.
That relationship began to unravel in the early 2000s, and ruptured because of the 2003 Iraq War. British Muslims, deeply opposed to the invasion, found themselves at odds with the party they had long supported. Alliances were forged with the broader anti-war left, spearheaded by the Muslim Association of Britain, Stop the War Coalition, and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. These partnerships were built on shared outrage and a common vision of justice and solidarity.
After years of Conservative-led austerity, Jeremy Corbyn’s rise to Labour leadership reignited hope. His record on Palestine, anti-racism, and economic justice gave the sense that Labour could once again reflect our values. But that hope proved short-lived.
Corbyn lost the 2019 General Election. His defeat had many causes: his stance on Palestine put him at odds with the political establishment and media class; his ambiguity on Brexit alienated swathes of voters; his leadership, though principled, often appeared indecisive in a climate demanding clarity. This was not just a defeat. It was the end of a political moment.
By 2024, Labour returned to power under Keir Starmer. But this was no moral recalibration. In a pivot to technocratic centrism, the party ducked moral stances that might provoke backlash. It pandered to the right on immigration, scapegoating migrants instead of fixing a broken asylum system.
Gaza exposed the full bankruptcy. Labour’s silence, suppression, and moral cowardice confirmed what many already suspected: the party had not only shifted right, but had abandoned any serious commitment to justice.
For British Muslims, the relationship now feels like a one-sided transaction. We are expected to vote left, march with the left, and speak left. Yet when we seek protection from rising hostility or space for our values, we are sidelined.
The exclusion is from the right as well. There we are the convenient scapegoats framed as threats to identity, targets of moral panic, and fodder for far-right marches and political point-scoring. From Boris Johnson’s “letterbox” slur to the endless dog-whistles about grooming gangs and “unintegrated” communities, Muslims are routinely dehumanized to galvanize the worst instincts in British politics.
However, the left is not innocent. Exclusion takes a subtler but no less insidious form: we are welcome, so long as we conform. Our presence is tolerated, even celebrated if we adopt the dominant social liberal worldview. But if we express socially conservative values on family, education, or faith, we are cast as backwards intolerant, and extreme.
This was revealed by the launch of the “Your Party” initiative by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. For some, it offered hope: a chance to rebuild a principled movement. However, that hope dimmed when Sultana declared there was “no space for social conservatism” in the party. The message was unmistakable: Muslims could walk the path but not help shape it.
The Young Are Watching — and Demanding Better
British Muslims today make up nearly 6% of the population, more than 4 million people. The median age is just 29, compared to 44 in the wider UK population. Nearly half are under 24. This is a young, politically aware generation asking harder questions.
They are UK-born and deeply rooted, with 94% identifying strongly with being British. But they are also less willing to trade values for access. Many are disillusioned, yet desperate for moral leadership. They want to organize, to build; however, the infrastructure to support that ambition barely exists.
The outcome is a generation with clarity but with no clear path. The will exists. The desire is there. What’s missing is a vehicle. For too long, the old guard has insisted that we stay tethered to the left, no matter how hollow that alliance has become.
Are there movements taking shape for this generation to take its own course? The rise of The Muslim Vote in the 2024 general
election was one such effort, an attempt to harness collective power and demand accountability. It showed that Muslims are politically engaged and ready to act. But this faced organizational hurdles, strategic confusion, and the egos of prospective candidates. It remained largely tied to the left, unwilling to imagine a politics beyond it.
Too often, efforts like these remain reactive, fragmented, or trapped in old models. What this generation needs is not just representation, but ownership. Leadership shaped by their context, not imposed upon it.
Unity of Purpose, Not Uniformity of Views
Factionalism and ideological gatekeeping cannot take precedence over the common good. Our communities, Muslim and otherwise, are crying out for leadership that is serious, grounded, and solutions-focused.
We do not need another symbolic alliance. We need a movement rooted in moral pragmatism: one that holds firm to its values while building real coalitions for justice, fairness, and the well-being of all communities. This isn’t just about Muslims; it’s about Britain finding leadership that can bridge divides, restore trust, and put people before party lines.
Moral pragmatism is not about abandoning principle to chase popularity. It is about holding onto principle while finding solutions that meet real needs. Immigration cannot be reduced to scapegoating; our National Health Service and social care depend on migrant workers. The cost-of-living crisis cannot be met with soundbites; it demands affordable housing and fair wages. The climate emergency cannot be kicked down the road; Britain must lead on resilience and green jobs.
Above all, moral pragmatism means speaking plainly, listening carefully, and acting with integrity, even when it costs. Unity of purpose does not mean uniformity of views. We will not all agree on everything. But we must agree on the fundamentals: economic justice, universal healthcare, racial equality, public service, and human dignity. These are not fringe demands. They are the foundation of any politics worth building.
We have waited long enough. The path ahead is not easy, but it is necessary. It begins by deciding that our politics must reflect who we are and the future we want to build. After 25 years of repeating the same approaches and expecting different results, it is time to do things differently: by listening even to those we disagree with, speaking honestly, and building from the ground up, not around personalities and rigid ideologies, but around principles.
Above all, we must move beyond performative politics and return to what really matters: people — their struggles, their hopes, their everyday challenges. It is real people, and their real stories, that matter most.
The Road Ahead
Forging a new political path will not be easy. But British Muslims are not strangers to hard work. We helped build this country. It is time we also help reshape its politics.
This is not about walking away from progressive ideals. It is about reclaiming the right to define them on our own terms. We are not a monolith, and we do not all think the same. But we share a conviction: that this country deserves leadership rooted in service, integrity, and accountability — leadership that can fix the NHS, tackle the cost of living, and confront the climate crisis with urgency. Nothing less will meet the scale of the challenges we face.
The task ahead is clear: contribute meaningfully, listen deeply, and lead with integrity. That is how trust is earned, and how genuine change begins.
Let’s begin.
