‘Quite shocking’ lack of government contact during UK riots, says MCB head

Mohammed, whose tenure as MCB leader is due to end in January, said she was optimistic that the government would ‘get its act together’. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

The head of the Muslim Council of Britain has called for an explanation and a review of the government’s policy of non-engagement with the body after her appeals for contact during the summer riots were ignored.

Zara Mohammed, who was elected more than three years ago as the MCB’s youngest and first female secretary general, said there had been a “quite shocking” lack of contact with the new government at a time when mobs were targeting Muslims and mosques.