Home Office urged to make it easier for mosques to apply for protection

Bradford Grand Mosque. Home Office guidance says ‘feeling unsafe due to general tensions’ without outlining the impact and ‘material consequences’ is not enough to apply for security. Photograph: Gary Calton/The Observer

Ministers are being urged to drop the requirement for mosques to prove they have faced a hate crime before they can apply for protective security.

Last week, the Home Office announced up to £40m in funding for security staff, CCTV, fencing, alarms and floodlights for mosques, Muslim schools and community centres through the Protective Security for Mosques Scheme.