Today's Home Office related stories focus on the far-right and include the latest developments in the investigation into the attack in Stanwell, the Christchurch shooting and coverage of the Home Office Places of Worship scheme.
Far-right
Media widely report on the latest developments in the investigation into the stabbing in Stanwell at the weekend.
Elsewhere, the Metro, Evening Standard, Mirror, Star and Independent report on comments by the Security Minister, who said that an attack similar to the Christchurch shooting “absolutely could happen here” and that the Government is concerned about the growing number of people driven by a far-right or white-supremacist ideology.
Reports also cover the Home Secretary’s visit to the London Central Mosque yesterday, describing it as an act of solidarity. The Metro and Mirror note that there have been calls for more funding for security for mosques through the Places Of Worship scheme.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
We are proud of our Muslim communities and are absolutely committed to ensuring they, like everyone else, are able to practise their faith in safety, and free from fear.
Protective security spending reflects the nature and level of threat at any one time specific to the UK. We regularly review support provided to a range of locations based on intelligence and the scale of threat we see.
In 2016 we committed £2.4million over three years to fund protective security measures for places of worship that are vulnerable to hate crime attacks. More than a third of the grants have already been awarded to mosques, and we will soon be extending the scheme to offer further support for the protection of places of worship across the country.
We have also recently refreshed our national hate crime action plan, improving the response to all forms of hate crime including anti-Muslim hatred, providing investment in communities to tackle the root causes of prejudice and racism and ensuring a robust criminal justice response.