Islamophobia from the likes of Boris Johnson must be punished – and this is how to do it

Tearing a headscarf from a woman, a flagrant example of Islamophobia, would rack up points on the index. Photograph: Guy Corbishley/Alamy

A House of Commons report confirms Islamophobia as the most common form of religious hate crime in the UK. Specifically, 42% of all religious hate crimes reported to the police were attacks against Muslims. But genuine efforts to punish Islamophobia and Islamophobic attacks are so weak that statistics on prosecutions and convictions are entirely absent.

We know nothing about how police deal with complaints of Islamophobia or whether there is a uniform process across all forces. Meanwhile, Islamophobia goes unpunished and grows. This must change.