How much worse must it get before things have to change?

Rebuilding Connection in a Divided Britain

TW: This article contains references to violent crime, death, sexual assault and faith-based hate crime.

A Country at a Crossroads

“Whose streets? Our streets.”

Ten days ago, on St George’s day, we witnessed some of the most inspiring moments across the country in recent times: the multifaith Walks of Faith in Birmingham, London and beyond. People of all faiths and cultures walking side-by-side, proclaiming this country as their own, re-claiming the flag of a Middle Eastern saint revered across faiths, countries and cultures as their flag.

And yet, just a few days later, two Jewish men walking down the street in broad daylight are attacked and put in life threatening circumstances.

In the last few months we have seen (to barely scratch the surface) a synagogue attacked where two people were killed in Manchester; arson at a mosque in East Sussex and dozens more mosques attacked in the last 12 months; Jewish charity ambulances set on fire in London; and a Sikh woman in Birmingham was followed and disgustingly raped in the safety of her own home whilst being berated with faith and race-laden slurs.

Where will it stop?

I’ll say what we are all feeling. What on earth is going on. What is happening to our country.

Faith based hate incidents of this extremity were few and far between, now a week barely passes and we are processing another.

This is the time to ring alarm bells. Whether we have been actively engaged in interfaith work or not, our society has been a multifaith, multi-cultural one for generations, and now that interfaith fabric of harmony and mutual-respect is under attack.

No doubt there will be accusations of alarmism; there already have been. Interfaith has been under attack for some time now; good, real, courageous interfaith is rare and often comes with accusations of betrayal from within one’s own community. That courage to re-connect and rebuild our national social fabric is needed now more than ever — and if we don’t do something now, tomorrow it will be needed even more. Must we wait until hate and division has bred widespread, common, everyday violence until we accept that something must be done? Security responses are helpful — but they don’t address the root causes of the issues, or the deep hurt, trauma and rifts in relationships that remain in communities after an attack has taken place.

How many more extreme incidents do we need before we get a grip, organise ourselves, and work together to connect? Do we really want to wait until it gets worse?

The Scale of the Crisis

We are in the midst of a context that is both deeply challenging and generationally defining not just for organisations like ours working at the heart of interfaith, but in this chapter of our national history.

Across the UK, we are living through a period of profound political and social polarisation. As highlighted in Questions of Hope and Hate: Faith and Faultlines in a Changing Britain, inter-religious work is “becoming an essential civic practice” and “a place in which some of the most contentious issues and most profound ideological divides must be negotiated” (Good Faith Partnership, Hope Not Hate).

The Human Cost

This is not an abstract observation. It is grounded in a growing body of research and in the lived experiences of the communities we work alongside every day.

Friends from across faith and belief communities have told us they have considered leaving the country multiple times over the last few years. Or, to stay, they feel they must visibly hide parts of their identity, avoid public transport, minimise going out – in short, they feel they can’t live authentically with safety in this country.

How do we make this place home again? Walks of unity and acts of standing together are an essential piece of the puzzle. The other pieces are navigating differences. Top down and grassroots up. This will only happen when we sit together, eat together, speak together — and walk forwards together, understanding the lived reality of our neighbours. It can’t be isolated meetings and unrepresentative echo chambers. We must do it in our hundreds and our thousands.

A Shifting National Context

Government policy is beginning to reflect this reality. The recent cross-government strategy, Protecting What Matters: Towards a more confident, cohesive, and resilient United Kingdom (HM Government, 2026), places social cohesion firmly at the centre of national priorities. It highlights interfaith engagement, youth work, education, and community-led collaboration as critical mechanisms for strengthening resilience and shared values. It also commits to strengthening Inter Faith Week, improving engagement with SACREs, and increasing investment in youth and community infrastructure.

This alignment matters. It reflects what practitioners across the interfaith and cohesion sectors have long understood: that connection across difference is not incidental to a healthy society, it is foundational to it.

At the same time, however, the conditions that make this work necessary are intensifying.

We are seeing a shift in political discourse, where rhetoric that centres division, exclusion, and protectionism is becoming more visible and, in some cases, more normalised. As the Overton window (what is publicly acceptable to say and call for – in news media and political dialogue) shifts, public attitudes are shaped not only by political leadership but also by the amplification dynamics of social and traditional media. With local elections tomorrow, the next Unite the Kingdom march planned for May 16^th, the predicted far-right mobilisation around key national moments, and surging antisemitism that is now a “national security emergency” — we are coming face to face with a potential tinderbox of polarisation.

Inequality, Disconnection, and the Erosion of Trust

Economic pressures are compounding these challenges. The cost-of-living crisis continues to disproportionately affect minoritised communities, with BAME people “2.5 times more likely to be in poverty than white people” (Runnymede Trust). Research from This Place Matters shows that lower-income groups report lower levels of trust and connection (More in Common).

Alongside this, we are witnessing a broader social trend: a growing sense of disconnection. Around 44% of Britons report feeling like strangers to those around them, and 50% feel disconnected from society (This Place Matters, More in Common). Associational life, critical to building relationships and trust, has declined since the pandemic and has not fully recovered.

And yet, there is an important counterpoint. While nearly two-thirds of the public feel the UK is divided, most believe these divisions can be overcome (The State of Social Cohesion in 2026, More in Common). There is also clear support for inclusive expressions of national identity: 81% of people reject the association of the English flag with racism, and 75% want to see expressions of national pride that are clearly opposed to prejudice (England United, British Future).

This tension, between division and the desire for connection, is one of the defining features of our current moment.

Rising Hate and the Impact of Global Events

Against this backdrop, the rise in hate crime is deeply concerning. The latest religious hate crime statistics paint a stark picture: there were 10,065 police-recorded religious hate crimes in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025 (Home Office, 2025), including 4,478 targeting Muslims and 2,873 targeting Jewish people. Incidents affecting Sikh, Hindu, Christian, Buddhist and other communities are also reflected in these national statistics.

These trends are shaped in part by international conflicts. As Questions of Hope and Hate describes, we are seeing “transnational mobilisation”, where events across the world reverberate immediately in British communities (Good Faith Partnership, Hope Not Hate).

For many this creates a complex set of pressures. Socially we are feeling pressure to defend our identities, defend our right to belong in the UK, to show solidarity, to protect and defend our community, to reach out and build understanding, and many other (sometimes conflicting) priorities.

Young People at the Centre

Young people are particularly affected by these dynamics. Polling shows that nearly three in five 16–17-year-olds report staying home from school due to anxiety, while more than two in five spend over six hours a day on their phones (Polling of 16–17 year olds, More in Common). This contributes to a sense of “perma-crisis” and increased exposure to online harms.

At the same time, schools (one of the most vital spaces for building understanding) are under strain. Many teachers tell us they do not feel confident holding space for conversations on identity, belief, and global events. This reflects longstanding structural challenges within Religious Education, where provision has often been described as a “postcode lottery”.

We welcome the Government’s renewed commitment to strengthening RE, including moves to introduce it into the national curriculum and increase investment in the subject, alongside strengthening the role of SACREs.

The Case for Connection

Across this context, evidence shows that connection is a key driver of cohesion.

Research from The State of Us shows that among those who frequently interact with people from different backgrounds, 80% report positive local relations, compared to 54% among those who rarely do (Belong Network).

This reinforces the central premise of our work: that sustained, structured engagement across difference (delivered through schools, youth programmes, interfaith initiatives, and community partnerships) is essential to building cohesion.

Our Priorities in This Moment

In this context, interfaith work is not only relevant, it is urgently needed.

Over the coming year, we will prioritise several key areas:

1. We will continue to strengthen interfaith education, by supporting students, teachers, and subject development.
2. We will nurture the next generation of young interfaith leaders through training, leadership development, and internship opportunities.
3. We will lead the delivery of Inter Faith Week across England with partners, creating a national moment to celebrate connection and shared belonging.
4. We will spotlight and support the work of local faith and belief communities and their vital contribution to society.
5. We will also contribute to innovation in the sector by piloting, researching, and sharing new approaches to impactful interfaith work.

Alongside this, we will actively tackle division and polarisation, both through curated and facilitated connection across our programmes, and through our organisational voice, that will highlight a vision of a nation strengthened by its diversity — grounded in the voices and the stories of young people and community members.

But we know that the usual work, on its own, is not enough.

Is There a Way Forward?

The context we are working in is not easy. But it is our responsibility to highlight how our country is beautiful in its diversity – and how that diversity is our greatest strength. The answer is connection. There is no other answer.

The vision is a transformed society, grounded in deep connection and opposition to prejudice. This entails a mutual understanding and respect of difference, equality of faiths and beliefs, and a shared sense of belonging. And, perhaps most essentially, safety.

How do we get there?

That’s the wrong question. The question is with whom we get there. We must develop a new form of solidarity. Solidarity that goes beyond words of support. Solidarity that is based in truly listening, and working to understand each other’s lived experiences. Solidarity that involves sharing our common fears and frustrations and solidarity that creates a new path forward: a path where we collectively say: STOP Faith Based Hate.

We are now organising an online meeting with faith and community members on how we can move forwards together. We want this discussion to be truly representative of all faiths and beliefs in our network and in the country. We want it to be inclusive of the voices of everyone from faith leaders to young people. This will take place in mid-June. Spaces will be limited: please register your interest here and we will inform you of further details in due course.