Hi ,

Since the dramatic by election in Gorton and Denton last Thursday, a lot of silly and disingenuous media commentators and politicians have abruptly learned the word "sectarian." A few have pushed the boat out and learned the word "separatist" as well. 

We've seen wild accusations of family voting pushed, implying that British Muslims voted fraudulently in the election, as well a lot of terribly virtuous people claiming to be very bothered by tactics like translating campaign materials into Urdu (an extremely common practice, used extensively by Labour and the Conservatives in the last 5 years) or even the simple fact that (they claim) the majority of Muslims voted in large numbers for the same political party.

But these claims are being picked up by people who should know better. Leader of the Conservative Party Kemi Badenoch is calling the vote in Gorton and Denton a "separatist" vote that is "threatening our British way of life." Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote that the successful campaign had used "divisive, sectarian politics" to win, a claim repeated by others in the government.

The argument is, on the face of it, that Muslims are so socially conservative in a way that's alien to British values that they all colluded to vote for the most socially progressive party available. Which, when you put it like that, doesn't really make any sense. It's also completely untrue in the specifics (age and housing tenure were much stronger predictors of voting intention than faith). 

But the argument isn't supposed to make sense or be accurate, it's supposed to imply that the votes of certain groups are illegitimate. Starmer is arguing that sectarian voting happens when Muslims don't vote for him; others are arguing it's sectarian when Muslims vote at all.

This is breathtakingly divisive and extremely harmful. You may yourself have seen a rise in anti-Muslim rhetoric after the by election or been affected by hatred (and if so, Tell MAMA and Stop Hate UK are good sources of support), or your neighbours and community have been. 

It's wild that we have to say this, but voting is a universal, equal human right – and it's no coincidence that this rhetoric comes alongside a wave of new attempts to rollback our rights. Not only are laws being used to restrict fundamental rights like protest, but proposals have been made for the outright repeal of the Equality Act. Writing in today's blog, our Senior Policy & Advocacy Leader Vanessa Boon warns that universal rights are not guaranteed and must be protected.

We need to fight for our rights, and for the concept that rights are universal. The good news is that when you frame the questions around the rights themselves, surveys indicate there's strong public support for governments and corporations that stand up for universal human rights. It's a testament to the power of our very unequal media and political system that misinformation has, as Vanessa says in her blog, distorted public understanding to generate opposition. 

To all observing, Ramadan Mubarak from the Equality Trust

Are you concerned about the future of equality and human rights laws? Plus: how would you protect rights? 

Banning large donations would massively reduce the incomes available to political parties. How could they adapt? You said:

• "The important things are a level playing field for political parties and transparency about where their money comes from."
  
  

• "Parties would need to refocus on deep direct community engagement at scale, and less on strategic comms and paid-for adverts to win over voters."
  
  

• "Much of the money raised is spent on A) campaigning in elections, B) research, C) party bureaucracy and D) PR.
  If parties genuinely listen and consult their members (e.g. Labour does not) then they could raise a lot more money because their supporters would feel engaged. Also, the level of support would reflect their popularity with the electorate, not their popularity with oligarchs."
  
  
• "Adopt policies to benefit the people they're meant to represent. Grow the membership through this. Stop hiring consultants & handing contracts to their pals. I would support a basic state fund, rather than one based on vote share. Criteria to access this would have to be decided.."
  
  
• "Political Parties should be given the resources to create recycleable posters, leaflets and bunting and given access to a dressing-up-box, a bicycle and a loud hailer. If they consider themselves fit to represent us, they can figure their campaigns out with uniformly limited resources."