Mosques Attacked, Children Racially Abused as UK’s Hard Right Gains Ground
London, United Kingdom — When Nabila* looks out of her living room window in Basildon, she no longer sees the town she once called home. Instead, she sees a place where fear has quietly settled into daily life.
“People here are tired, scared and feel forgotten,” said the Muslim mother of two, speaking from her home where a Qur’an rests on a bookshelf beside family photographs. Over recent months, she has documented a disturbing rise in racist incidents targeting Muslims in her community: stones thrown at children from residential buildings, red crosses spray-painted across a local mosque alongside slogans such as “Christ is King” and “This is England,” and reports of drivers accelerating toward Muslim women pushing prams across pedestrian crossings.
According to the UK’s 2021 census, Basildon is more than 93 percent white, with Muslims accounting for less than 2 percent of the population. Campaigners say that in towns where minority communities are small and geographically isolated, visibility often translates into vulnerability.
Nabila, a single mother working full time, has taken on an unpaid role as a community organiser — recording racist incidents, supporting victims and holding meetings with local authorities. But the toll has been personal.
After being racially abused while walking through her favourite park, she stopped going altogether. “Women are changing how they live,” she said. “We plan our routes. We watch our backs. Racism is now part of everyday life.”
Hijab-Wearing Mothers Targeted
At a women’s listening circle organised by Nabila at the Wat Tyler Centre, another Muslim mother, Zarka*, described how abuse altered her family’s routine.
During the school run, a passer-by shouted at her to “take that rag off your head.” The impact was immediate. She stopped taking her children to school for two weeks.
“It wasn’t just that one comment,” she said. “It’s the looks, the cars that don’t stop, the sense that you are not welcome anywhere.”
Community advocates warn that Muslim women, particularly those who wear the hijab, are increasingly at the front line of Islamophobic abuse across the UK.
‘I Can’t Do This Any More, Mum’
Hundreds of miles north, similar patterns are emerging in classrooms.
In Glasgow, Etka Marwaha said her daughter Anisa was just seven years old when racist taunts at her primary school began to change her personality. Once outgoing, Anisa became withdrawn, isolated in the playground and targeted with slurs.
Despite repeated pleas to the school, Marwaha said staff failed to intervene meaningfully. The bullying continued for two years.
“She came home in tears and said, ‘I can’t do this any more, Mum,’” Marwaha recalled. “At that age, she decided she had to leave.”
The family eventually moved Anisa to a school outside their catchment area — one without a direct bus route — but with a zero-tolerance policy on racism. Her wellbeing improved almost immediately.
Marwaha said the experience resurfaced her own childhood trauma. “You think society has progressed,” she said. “But when seven-year-olds repeat racist ideas and adults allow it, something is deeply wrong.”
Sam*, a doctor living in northwest Scotland and father to children of mixed heritage, said racist language has become normalised in schools.
“There’s silence now where there used to be pushback,” he said. “None of our kids has escaped it. We’re seriously considering leaving the UK.”
Mosque Attack Sparks Alarm
Concerns escalated this week after a man reportedly entered Manchester Central Mosque carrying an axe and other weapons during evening prayers in Ramadan. Around 2,000 worshippers were present. Police arrested the suspect before anyone was harmed.
Muslim leaders said the incident intensified existing fears over safety in religious spaces.
Official Data Shows Sharp Rise in Hate Crimes
Government figures reinforce these concerns.
In October 2025, the UK Home Office reported that hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales had risen for the first time in three years. Racially and religiously motivated offences both increased.
Crimes targeting Muslims rose by 19 percent, with a significant spike following the Southport murders and the riots that followed in mid-2025, officials said.
School suspensions for racist behaviour have more than doubled in recent years, according to the UK Department for Education.
“Children as young as four are being sent home for racist incidents,” said Shabna Begum, director of the Runnymede Trust. “This is a sign of systemic failure.”
Political Climate Under Scrutiny
The rise in attacks comes amid growing support for hard-right political movements. Figures such as Nigel Farage and far-right activist Tommy Robinson have intensified rhetoric against immigration and multiculturalism.
Recent polling by YouGov suggests that if a general election were held today, the Reform Party would lead with around 24 percent support.
“Mainstream politics and media have normalised racist narratives,” Begum said. “Migrants, asylum seekers, Muslims and people of colour are being scapegoated.”
Runnymede’s recent report, How Racism Affects Health, found that constant hypervigilance — planning routes, avoiding public spaces, withdrawing from community life — causes long-term physical and psychological harm, including anxiety, depression and reduced life expectancy.
‘Racism Is Out of Control’
For families like Nabila’s, the statistics are reflected in daily choices.
“They think carefully about where they go, what time they travel, whether it’s safe to attend community events,” Begum said. “This is not freedom. This is survival.”
Nabila agrees. “We shouldn’t have to live like this,” she said. “But until something changes — politically, socially — fear has become our normal.”