Anti-Muslim hate surges in London, with 2026 incidents already exceeding 2023 total

During the first six months of 2026, reported incidents of anti-Muslim prejudice and hatred in London exceeded the total recorded for the whole of 2023. According to monitoring organisation Tell MAMA, 1,031 Islamophobic incidents were reported in the capital between January and the end of June, already surpassing the 1,028 recorded during the entirety of 2023.

The figures published by Tell MAMA, which monitors anti-Muslim hate and supports victims, point to a sustained and worrying rise. The organisation recorded 313 incidents in 2021, rising to 818 in 2022 and continuing to increase each year, reaching a record 1,909 in 2025.

“A worrying rise in repeat victimisation and heightened levels of targeted anger are leaving victims with a fractured sense of personal safety,” said Iman Atta, director at Tell Mama. She said the figures highlighted the urgent need for “robust counter-extremism strategies rather than political platitudes.”

“This is not a temporary blip,” she added, “it is a sustained escalation of anti-Muslim hate, and it demands a sustained and uncompromising no-nonsense response from our public institutions.”

The findings come amid wider evidence that anti-Muslim hostility is increasing across the UK.

Earlier this year, the government published a new non-statutory definition of anti-Muslim hostility, acknowledging that Muslim communities in Britain have experienced increasing discrimination, abuse and violence. Home Office figures show that 4,478 anti-Muslim hate crimes were recorded in the year to March 2025, a 20 percent increase on the previous year and almost half of all religiously motivated hate crimes. Experts have also warned that many incidents are likely to go unreported.

Public attitudes have raised further concerns. A YouGov survey commissioned by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community last year found that 41 percent of Britons believed Muslim immigrants had had a negative impact on the UK, compared with 24 percent who believed they had made a positive contribution. Almost one in three respondents also said they believed Islam promotes violence, a higher proportion than for any other major faith included in the survey.

In July, the British Muslim Trust said it had recorded 70 attacks on Muslim places of worship across the UK over a 12-month period, including incidents of vandalism and intimidation.

The rise in reported incidents has also prompted renewed calls for stronger action from political leaders and law-enforcement agencies.

Responding to Tell MAMA’s report, a spokesperson for London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Anti-Muslim hate has absolutely no place in London.

“The rise in attacks on Muslims in London and across the country is vile and the police have the mayor’s full support in taking a zero-tolerance approach.”

They said the mayor had invested “a record £16 million – more than any other mayor – to support grassroots community groups to stand up to hate and intolerance and fund services for victims of hate crime.”

With reported incidents rising, and evidence of growing hostility extending beyond London, the challenge for public institutions is not simply to condemn individual attacks but to address the conditions that allow anti-Muslim prejudice to persist and escalate.