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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
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Catherine Bennett

Faith groups want more say in secular Britain. Labour should tell them to go to hell

Uniformed school children at assembly, seen from behind.
‘There is existing majority support for non-enforcement of the law on collective worship.’ Photograph: Julian Claxton/Alamy

An organisation called “The Muslim Vote” has invited Labour to satisfy 18 “demands” if the party wants to win back UK Muslim support it has lost over the war in Gaza. “There’s more,” it tweets, “but that’ll do for starters.”

Already, however, Labour is evidently expected to do more to woo this body, which includes the Muslim Association of Britain, than correct its initial response to Gaza and adopt a more hostile stance towards Israel. TMV’s list of demands doubles as its guidelines for a better world, with some proposals uncontroversial: “deliver alternative student finance”; “ensure insurance quotes don’t cost more for someone called ‘Muhammad’ ”; “increase council and public health funding for the 10% most deprived areas”.

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