Former Kilmore church being converted into mosque set alight Tuesday amid spate of Islamophobic incidents

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Islamic communities have called out a rise in “anti-Muslim hate” after a church that was being converted into a mosque was allegedly set alight in what Victoria police are treating as a “suspicious” fire.

In a statement, Victoria police said the abandoned church in Kilmore, north of Melbourne, was set alight at about 1.50pm on Tuesday, causing “significant damage” to the building. No one was inside at the time and the fire was believed to have been started in the rear of the building.

Readers respond to negative comments by Conservative and Reform UK politicians following a Ramadan event in Trafalgar Square

As a young British Muslim, I was troubled to see public prayer described as an “act of domination” by the shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy (Report, 19 March). To characterise a few minutes of prayer in this way is simply unjust. Britain stands for fairness and equal treatment. If other faiths can gather in public spaces, Muslims should be afforded the same right. To single out one community undermines that principle.

Events such as open iftars are not about imposing beliefs, but about bringing people together. We are often encouraged to integrate, yet when Muslims do so visibly and peacefully, they are criticised. Such language and behaviour are deepening division and making Young British Muslims feel unwelcome in their own country.
Sarmad Anwar
Bradford, West Yorkshire

Every home is missing someone, every person is carrying grief. We went not to celebrate but to sit with the bereaved

Eid al-Fitr is meant to bring release. It comes at the end of Ramadan, after a month of fasting and prayer, and in Gaza it has always carried its own kind of joy. The day begins with prayer. Men and boys gather in clean clothes, neighbours congratulate one another, friends embrace, and supplications rise with the first light. Families return home for breakfast, then begin the long round of visits to sisters, daughters, aunts, uncles and neighbours. Children wait for eidiya, the money given to younger relatives. Coffee is poured, sweets are shared and doors remain open.

This year, the rituals remained. The feeling had gone.

Shadow justice secretary had called Trafalgar Square event an ‘act of domination’

James Cleverly has said he disagrees with his Conservative frontbench colleague Nick Timothy’s assertion that public Muslim prayers are an act of domination, as another senior Tory called for the party to respect the right to worship.

Kemi Badenoch has defended Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, after he posted images of mass prayer at a Ramadan event on Monday evening in Trafalgar Square, calling it “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”.

Exclusive: Tariq Ahmad says he has raised concerns with party leadership after shadow justice secretary’s remarks

The shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, has been accused by a Conservative peer and former counter-extremism minister of “instilling fear” among Muslims with his comments about public prayer.

British Muslims were openly talking about leaving the Conservative party, added Tariq Ahmad, who said he had raised his concerns with the party leadership and expected action to be taken.

Officials understood to be investigating use of visas by company linked to Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light

The Home Office is investigating a company linked to a religious sect based in Cheshire over its use of immigration visas.

The company under investigation is linked to the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (AROPL), a sect that blends tenets of Islam with conspiracy theories about the Illuminati and aliens controlling US presidents. Followers believe the sect’s leader, Abdullah Hashem, can cure the sick and make the moon disappear. About 100 of his followers live in a former orphanage in Crewe, in the north-west of England.

Eid al-Fitr celebrated amid political furore over claims public Ramadan prayers an ‘act of domination’

On Friday morning, little space remained in Baitul Futuh mosque as thousands of people poured in to mark the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

The south London mosque, one of the largest in Europe, offered a glimpse of the Eid al-Fitr festivities being celebrated by millions of Muslims across the UK. This year, however, a political furore around one of the most important holidays in the Islamic calendar has divided UK party leaders, drawn warnings of bigotry and left members of the community feeling disturbed and disappointed.

Under the shadow of war in the Middle East, Muslim worshippers around the world unite to celebrate the breaking of the fast

Stuart Niven suspended after revelations he was struck off as company director, while other candidates have been accused of extremist statements including describing Humza Yousaf as ‘not British’

Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.

Malcolm Offord, Reform UK’s Scottish leader, has doubled down on his defence of the party’s vetting by dismissing remarks by candidates backing Tommy Robinson or describing Humza Yousaf as an “Islamist moron” (see 10.12am) as “fruity language”.

It has taken a matter of hours for Reform Scotland’s big launch to fall apart and their true colours to show.

If Nigel Farage refuses to act and remove this candidate, Malcolm Offord must step up and show some leadership himself. This incident has confirmed once and for all how poisonous and chaotic Reform is and I have no doubt that Scots will send them packing.

Again, as I say, this was done in a former life before she became a member of Reform. We’ve all said things in the past that may be intemperate… I am saying that we have to grow up on this and not take offence at every moment in time.

I’ve been very clear that we have brought in a whole range of candidates, 80% of whom are not politicians. They’re real people with real lives who said real things in a past life. Okay, this was said before she was a candidate. She wasn’t even a member of the party at that time.

And what we got in the situation is that in all our lives in the past, we’ve made comments that might sometimes be intemperate. But the issue with this modern world we live in is everything is now written down and remembered. I just think we have to be more, more realistic about the fact that real people say real things, and now she’s a candidate, she will be held to a higher standard.

Liberal Democrats urge the government to ensure the NCA or new National Police Service takes over investigations into serious waste crime. We also need an independent review of the entire waste crime system to crack down on organised gangs once and for all. New powers for the Environmental Agency simply won’t cut it.

At a time when Britain has never felt more divided, we should draw on Christian values to reject hate and focus on what unites us

When you think about the unedifying political furore about the open iftar held in Trafalgar Square, try to bear in mind that every year on Remembrance Day – a stone’s throw from Trafalgar Square – the bishop of London leads a public Christian act of lamentation in the open air. It is an act of religious observance which happens in cities, towns and villages across the country. Alongside the hymns sung, there are readings from the Bible and prayers made in the name of Jesus Christ, and a blessing invoking the holy trinity. In Leeds, where I have the honour of leading the service alongside the Roman Catholic dean of Leeds, I am accompanied by leaders from other faiths: Jewish, Hindu, Sikh and Muslim. We join together in this public, open-air, unmistakably Christian service.

Over years of attending and conducting such services – and others like it such as those held in memory of Queen Elizabeth II – I have never heard a complaint from those of other faiths that such services represented a “domination of the public sphere” or that such services in our civic spaces were “an expression of power and intimidation”.

Arun Arora is bishop of Kirkstall in the diocese of Leeds

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Hundreds of Muslims gathered outside the walls of the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem for Eid al-Fitr prayers on Friday after Israeli authorities closed al-Aqsa mosque. Israel said the closure was part of security measures linked to the country's escalating war with Iran, but Palestinians said the move was part of a wider Israeli strategy to leverage security tensions to tighten restrictions and entrench control over Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site

• ‘The saddest day for Muslim worshippers in Jerusalem’: al-Aqsa mosque closed at Eid

Exclusive: Richard Hermer, who is Jewish, says Tory leader and shadow minister seem ‘to only have an issue with Muslim events’

Richard Hermer, the attorney general, has challenged Kemi Badenoch to say whether she would object to Jewish prayer in public, after the Conservative leader backed one of her shadow ministers who said an Islamic prayer event was intimidating and un-British.

Hermer, one of the UK’s most prominent Jewish politicians, said Badenoch’s decision to support the views of Nick Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, put her on a par with Reform UK and Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist.

Palestinians say the move is part of a wider Israeli strategy to leverage security tensions to tighten restrictions

For the first time since 1967, al-Aqsa mosque – Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site – will be closed at the end of Ramadan on Friday, with tensions rising among Palestinians as Israeli authorities keep the complex shut, forcing worshippers to hold Eid prayers as close as they can to the sealed site.

On Friday morning hundreds of worshippers were forced to pray outside the Old City, as Israeli police barricaded the entrances to the site.

Thousands of people come together at one of Australia’s biggest mosques to mark the end of Ramadan

• Anthony Albanese and Tony Burke heckled by protesters at Lakemba mosque

• ‘Joy in the midst of much grief’: Australian Eid and Nowruz celebrations overshadowed by war in the Middle East

‘So many people that I love and care about are worried about the survival of people they love overseas,’ Inaz Janif says

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Inaz Janif would ordinarily attend prayers at the mosque for Eid al-Fitr, the event that marks the end of Ramadan, a sacred month and fasting period for Muslims.

This year, however, she’s doing something a bit different.

Reform party leader criticised for making comments after event held in London’s Trafalgar Square this week

Muslim leaders have condemned Nigel Farage’s call to ban public prayer by Muslims in the UK as bigoted and warned of a “growing tide of hate” after the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, questioned whether the events fitted “within the norms of British culture”.

Farage was speaking at the launch of Reform UK’s manifesto for the forthcoming Scottish parliament elections when he made the remarks.

At the launch of the Conservative local elections campaign on Thursday, Peter Walker asked Kemi Badenoch about her shadow justice secretary’s claim that Muslims praying in Trafalgar square was an ‘act of domination’. Her answer did not clarify the party’s position. Peter discusses with Lexy Topping the problems this kind of culture war may bring the Conservatives. Plus, are Sadiq Khan’s comments on the EU and Angela Rayner’s return to the spotlight a new headache for Keir Starmer?

Nigel Farage echoed Nick Timothy’s comments after he said public prayer for Ramadan was an ‘act of domination’

• Starmer claims Tories have ‘problem with Muslims’ after Timothy tweet

Cleverly is trying to show a video, but it is not working. So he just invites Kemi Badenoch to start her speech.

The Conservatives are launching their local elections campaign. There is a live feed here.

Conservative leader says debate not about freedom of religion, but its expression in shared public space

• UK politics live – latest updates

Kemi Badenoch has backed her shadow justice secretary, Nick Timothy, after he claimed that Islamic prayers taking place in public are intimidating and un-British, with Labour saying the Conservatives had embraced the “gutter” politics of prejudice.

The row began after Timothy posted images on social media of prayer at a Ramadan event in London’s Trafalgar Square, saying mass prayer in public places was “an act of domination” and “straight from the Islamist playbook”.

Nick Timothy said an event attended by the mayor of London that included prayers was an ‘act of domination’

Polanski says the government should be doing more to improve home insulation, and on the drive towards renewable energy.

And he says the government should commit to ensuring energy bills do not rise above the April-June price cap.

The government should guarantee right now that it will not allow energy bills to rise beyond the April-June price cap – instead setting aside approximately £8.4bn to prevent a rise of up to £300 per household that could be coming down the track.

No, it’s not cheap. But the alternative is unacceptable: if the price cap rises, we will see interest rate rises. Mortgage rates up. Bond yields up. And inflation up – and we will be back into the doom loop that has done untold damage to our economy and caused misery for households across the UK for years now.

There are ways to pay. Instead of scrapping the windfall tax on energy companies, as this government is planning to do, we should be strengthening it instead. We need a real, loophole-free windfall tax with no exemptions for reinvesting in fossil fuels. A robust tax that claws back every single pound of reckless profiteering from this crisis and repurposes it immediately to protect every home in the country. And while taxing extreme wealth in the ways we need to will take time to implement, there are levers the government could pull right now – like equalising capital gains tax with income tax and reforming the base, to raise £12bn.

It’s time for the government to act decisively, eliminate the uncertainty that is plaguing people and the markets and insulate us from some of the worst economic effects of Trump’s war.

This was not a war of self-defence, there was no imminent threat. Negotiations were ongoing. It was, as the BBC’s international editor said, a war of choice.

People across the Middle East are terrified of what Trump and Netanyanhu’s war will mean for them and their loved ones. And the repercussions are echoing across the world as instability spreads and oil prices spike.

People are already struggling so hard just to make ends meet. People feel like they’re running every day just to stay in the same place. The idea that yet again – for the second time in just a few years – that we are going to have to deal with another enormous spike in the cost of the basics is unacceptable.

It’s unacceptable because we didn’t need to be here. It’s unforgivable that just four years after we last saw an energy price shock, that one triggered by Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, far too little has been done to protect this country, its people, and its economy – from the impact of yet another energy price shock.