UK mosques and Muslim faith centres to get £10m security funding boost after string of hate crime attacks

The new investment will provide vital security measures including CCTV, alarm systems, secure fencing and security personnel services.

The scheme protects mosques, Muslim community centres and Muslim faith schools that have experienced or are vulnerable to hate crime.

This additional £10 million funding means more sites can be protected and builds on the £29.4 million already available this year for mosques and Muslim faith schools.

It comes after the Peacehaven Mosque in East Sussex was targeted in an arson attack on October 4, and which Sir Keir Starmer visited today.

Sir Keir said: “Britain is a proud and tolerant country. Attacks on any community are attacks on our entire nation and our values. This funding will provide Muslim communities with the protection they need and deserve, allowing them to live in peace and safety.

“I want a Britain built for all and my government is committed to delivering safer streets for everyone - and that means protecting places of worship from those who seek to divide us through hate and violence.”

No one was injured in the East Sussex fire, which damaged the front entrance of the mosque and a car.

Police said they are were treating the arson attack as a hate crime.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood branded the attack "an appalling crime", warning it "could easily have led to an even more devastating outcome."

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She added: “I am proud of this country because of the rights we all have to follow the faith of our choosing, and to live free from hatred and fear.

“That right must be defended. Violence and intimidation directed at any community or faith are attacks on us all. We must stand together against those who seek to divide us.”

It comes amid a concerning rise in attacks on mosques in recent months.

During last summer’s violent disorder, mosques in Southport, Hull and Sunderland were targeted, causing significant distress to local communities.

Meanwhile, Britain is also gripped by a surge in anti-Muslim hate crime - with the most recent statistics showing this rose by 19% in the year ending March 2025.

It also found that 44% of all religious hate crimes targeted Muslims.

But Muslims are not the only religion vulnerable, with religious hate crime recorded by police in England and Wales has reaching a record high this year.

There were 7,164 such offences recorded by forces across the two nations – excluding the Metropolitan Police – in the year to March, up 3% from 6,973 in the previous 12 months.

This was the highest annual total of these offences recorded, the Home Office said.

The figures came exactly one week on from the Manchester synagogue attack, in which two men were killed.

The Metropolitan Police recorded 40% of all religious hate crimes in London targeted Jewish people in the last year.

In the year to March, there were 106 religious hate crimes per 10,000 population targeted at Jewish people.