31 July 2020

British Muslims are being scapegoated for the government’s coronavirus failures

A Conservative MP has claimed that ethnic minority Britons, particularly Muslims, are not taking the coronavirus seriously. But the evidence is thin at best.

By Stephen Bush

Shoppers wear facemasks as they walk through central Halifax on July 31, 2020. - Millions of households in Manchester and nearby parts of northern England woke up to new lockdown rules today, hastily imposed following concerns over a spike in regional coronavirus infections. Under the measures, people from different households in the affected areas are banned from meeting indoors. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP) (Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

Are the United Kingdom’s BAME communities failing to take lockdown seriously enough? That’s the eyebrow-raising claim made by Craig Whittaker, the Conservative MP for Calder Valley, who went on to specifically single out British Muslims for blame, a claim Boris Johnson opted not to disown at his press conference today.

One problem with Whittaker’s thesis is that there is no credible explanation as to why British Muslims wouldn’t take social distancing as seriously as any other group of British citizens. Social distancing is being observed throughout much of the world, including in Muslim-majority countries, as the haunting but beautiful photos of Muslims on the Hajj demonstrate.