Nearly half of Scotland’s police forces have no idea about the number of religious hate incidents reported in their area.
Despite the west of Scotland’s problems with sectarianism and growing concerns over Islamophobia in the wake of the 7 July terror attacks in London, Strathclyde Police does not track crimes linked to faith. Neither the Fife nor Dumfries and Galloway force compiles such statistics. However, police in other areas have been collating them for up to a decade.
Community leaders expressed concerns yesterday, claiming little action could be taken to address religious hatred until the true picture was known. Osama Saeed, Scottish spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain, said: “There is a climate of fear of Islam and general tension about the international situation. Until you know the scale of the problem, you can’t tackle it.”
The Little Bulldogs blog takes the opportunity to repeat false allegations against Osama Saeed which Osama himself rebutted at the time.