Racially and religiously motivated offences have reached record highs in England and Wales, according to new Home Office figures. Police recorded 146,825 hate crimes in the year ending March 2026, marking a 7% rise over the past year.
Offences targeting Muslims saw the largest increase, rising by 15% from 4,479 to 5,132. Antisemitic hate crimes also rose by 10%, from 2,874 to 3,162. These figures exclude data from the Metropolitan Police due to a change in their crime recording system.
The British Muslim Trust (BMT), a government partner for monitoring anti-Muslim hostility, stated that attacks on mosques are increasing in severity. A report by BMT, titled 'A Year of Division', noted an "unprecedented level of anti-Muslim hate" and a shift from targeting mosques to "targeting [the] Muslims inside." BMT recorded 78 incidents involving 64 mosques across the UK and Channel Islands between 21 July 2025 and 30 July 2026.
According to BMT's severity scale, 62.7% of incidents since November 2025 involved threats, sustained harassment, weapons, threats to kill, arson, direct violence, or alleged mass-casualty plots. This is an increase from 22.2% of incidents between July and October 2025 that were of a more serious nature.
Ammer Amin, a trustee of Masjid Al-Ummah in Watford, which has been repeatedly targeted, said that people feel "emboldened by politicians." Akeela Ahmed, BMT's CEO, highlighted increasing security needs and expressed that "many Muslims today are scared to go about their everyday lives."