The Newshound

Mahmood refuses to say whether the UK is Islamophobic as she admits Labour 'mistakes were made'

From the Newshound archive · first published 28 September 2026 · last updated 29 September 2026.

Afghan girls locked out of school; Shabana Mahmood's relaunched UK Resettlement Scheme reserves a quarter of its places for Afghan women and girls, with the UN co-running the programme.
Afghan girls locked out of school; Shabana Mahmood's relaunched UK Resettlement Scheme reserves a quarter of its places for Afghan women and girls, with the UN co-running the programme.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood would not be drawn on whether Britain is Islamophobic at a Labour conference fringe event hosted by the Tony Blair Institute in Liverpool, steering away from the question by saying that engaging with fellow citizens gives her "a lot more hope". She also conceded openly that "mistakes were made" under Sir Keir Starmer, attributing his downfall in part to his failure to explain "where he went wrong" to the public.

Mahmood argued the public debate on Islam has been "couched in the national security, terrorism, extremism space", framing the question around extremists who misread scripture.

She said Starmer's early stumbles over "freebies and gifts and Taylor Swift tickets and haircuts and glasses" set the wrong tone from the start.

Reform's Zia Yusuf accused Mahmood of caving to open-borders Labour backbenchers led by Angela Rayner, saying she had "thrown in the towel" on her own tougher residency reforms.

MoreGB NewsShabana Mahmood declines to say whether she thinks UK is IslamophobicGB NewsShabana Mahmood's scheme is a Trojan Horse for chain migration on a scale Britain has never seen - Robert Batesx.com🚨 Mahmood spent MONTHS talking tough about making it harder for migrants to claim Leave to Remain and citizens… — @ZiaYusufUK on XYahoo News UKHome Secretary will not say whether UK is Islamophobic
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