An unintended consequence of the Southport riots, it seems, is that 92 percent of Muslims feel “much less safe” after the violent disorder.
This is according to a survey reported in the Independent, carried out by the Muslim Census organisation between 5-6 August with a panel of 1,519 participants from various backgrounds.
The organisation also reported that one in six of the respondent claimed personally to have experienced racist attacks since the riots began on 30 July, while two in three claimed to have witnessed one.
In numbers, it is claimed that 28 percent of Muslims faced verbal attacks, 16 percent recorded abuse online and four percent claim they had experienced a physical attack in the weeks since the disorder.
In response to the survey, Muslim Census co-founder Sadiq Dorasat says: “We have heard stories about Hijabis that don’t feel safe to leave their homes or go to work”, also asserting that: “We’ve seen a witch hunt directed to people of the Muslim faith mentioning Allah and His messenger and people are concerned for their safety”.
However, if this survey is in any way accurate, we are dealing with extraordinary numbers. The 2021 census put the UK’s Muslim population at 3,998,875 (six percent of the total population) which means, extrapolated nationally, just over a million Muslims would have experienced verbal attacks, and about 160,000 had experienced physical attacks.