LABOUR MP Apsana Begum has won cross-party backing from senior MPs for her Commons bid to highlight a surge in racist attacks and Islamophobia in Britain and abroad.   

The Poplar and Limehouse MP’s early day motion (EDM) warns that Westminster’s policies are contributing towards a rise in racist attacks and Islamophobia.   

Father of the House Sir Peter Bottomley, a former Tory minister, is backing her motion. 

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Green Party MP Caroline Lucas are also sponsoring it. 

Other supporters include Kirsten Oswald, the SNP’s deputy leader at Westminster, and Northern Ireland MPs Jim Shannon of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Stephen Farry of the Alliance Party.   

Ms Begum said that the so-called counter-terrorism Prevent Programme “fostered discrimination” by disproportionately targeting Muslims.   

She mentioned cases of Muslim school pupils being “wrongly referred to the police for classroom comments, including some about Palestinian human rights.”  

A climate that “demonises Muslims” is being created by the Home Office and is “encouraged by the hard-right rhetoric of Tory ministers,” Ms Begum warned.     

She said that Britain was pursuing discriminatory policies against the backdrop of a “highly alarming” global increase in far-right terror attacks against Muslims and the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. She also repeated accusations of mistreatment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang promoted by the US government and US-funded Uighur separatist organisations.

Ms Begum added: “At home and abroad, Islamophobia is rising sharply.   

“The scale of the cross-party support from MPs from diverse parts of the UK, shows how widespread the nature of this hatred is. 

“The highly alarming litany of incidents in so many different corners of the world shows the global nature of this hatred.”