Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has expressed deep concern about social cohesion in the United Kingdom, more so than he has in many years. Speaking to over 100 guests from various faith or religious backgrounds at a 10 Downing Street reception on Wednesday 12 November evening, celebrating Inter Faith Week (9-16 November), PM Starmer acknowledged that relations between different religious communities in the UK have been severely tested in recent years.
After being introduced by the Archbishop of Canterbury-designate Sarah Mullally, Sir Starmer said, he feels interfaith works bring communities together. However, he then focussed on worries of growing racism, divisions and hatred across the country.
“I have to admit to you that I'm more worried about cohesion across our country now than I've been for very many years,” he said. “We do face a bit of a fork in the road for our country now, because there's an argument not just about this policy or that policy, but who we are as a country. What is our identity? And on the one hand, you've got what I call sort of a patriotic national renewal, a whole country that wants to come together and pull forward for everybody in the country.
“Or toxic division, where we're saying whether it's in real life or online - more division, more abuse, more attacks…
“I'm very proud to be Prime Minister, but I want to serve the whole of this country, the country as it is, in all its reasonableness, its practicalness, its tolerance, its live and let live, and its diversity. And it's really important that we hang on to that, because I do feel that that is under attack as an idea of who we are as a country, in a way it hasn't been for many, many years.
“And that's - when I speak of national renewal, when I speak of patriotism - that's what I mean by patriotism, recognising who we really are as a country, not some caricature of who we are. But we are, I genuinely believe, a group of reasonable, practical, compassionate people who want to look after each other.”
He then went on to address the "terrible" terror attack on Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester, which occurred less than 48 hours after his speech at the Labour Party convention in Liverpool, where he discussed the nation's divisions.
"…It was a really chilling moment. I think all of you will have probably had the same feeling I had about the horror and the impact of that. And I went up to the cinema hall the next day with Vic and my wife. We got as close as we could to see the scene and to just get a sense of what it must have been like.
“Spoke to some of the people who had been at the synagogue. Either simply at the synagogue attending or some of them within the CST putting in the protective measures that sadly are necessary these days.”
Fight against abuse and attacks on people of all faiths
The Prime Minister then went on to talk about the solidarity and goodness still alive in people irrespective of their faiths or cultures. He said, “I was struck then by a number of things. Firstly, the sheer horror of what had happened. The shock. I met the families of four of the five victims. And this is within 24 hours, so you can imagine the state that they were in, particularly those that had lost a loved one.
“I was really struck by the fact that it was members of the local mosque who were amongst the first to run to the synagogue to see if they could help.
“I was really struck by the fact that many in the cinema hall put their own lives at risk, one very much so. Pushing the door shut and holding it shut to make sure that other people were safe. Undoubtedly saving the lives of very, very many people. And thinking not of themselves, but what they could do for others. So even in the depths of that despair, I could see what I truly believe is the country that we are.”
Referring to the arson attack targeted on Peacehaven Mosque he added, “Within days of that, we had the Peacehaven Mosque arson attack. And again, I had the privilege of going down to the mosque to meet the community, to talk to some of the family members who had been hugely impacted and were scared.
“…It had a huge impact on those that used the mosque. But again, even in that depth, they told me about all the members of the community of Peacehaven and nearby who had come forward to the mosque within hours and days to say, we're with you, we support you, this isn't us, this isn't the country that we are. And they showed me the pictures and the cards and the letters that had been sent of support for everybody in the mosque. So that decency is there, but we have to fight for it. And I choose those two examples, but there are so many other examples of abuse and attacks of people of all faiths and none.
“We saw the march out here in the late summer, which sent chills through so many communities. Not just people who were in the immediate vicinity who saw what it felt like in relation to that demonstration, but across the country they could feel the division, the hatred that was on show there. So, we need to recognise the depth of it.
“It means we're all up for a fight. It means we've got to fight. And interfaith work is more important now than it has ever been. This is a really defining moment in our history. And we have to make sure that we go down the right path and not the wrong path. Because that toxic condition will tear us apart as a country. It will tear apart everything that you and I believe in…”
A partnership of interfaith communities and government
Urging the interfaith community in attendance to work together, the Prime Minister concluded by saying, “We want to work with you on this. This has to be a partnership. This can't be done by a prime minister or a government…We will play our part, but we recognise that we can't do it on our own…Each of you brings so much to this. But we want to join you in this. We want to reinforce it. We think it's more important now than it's ever been.”
The reception that saw food and non-alcoholic drinks catering to all faiths was attended by members of Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities. Some of the notable organisations in attendance included Bristol Multi Faith Forum, National Hindu Students’ Forum (NHSF-UK), Chinmaya Mission, Yog Foundation, City Sikhs, Avanti Schools Trust – to name a few.
Some other guests included Communities Secretary Steve Reed, Faiths Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh, Naz Shah MP, Afzal Khan MP and Gurinder Singh Josan MP among others.
