I was saddened to read, over on Modernity Blog, that there had been an attack on a new mosque in Hanley. As reported in the Guardian, four teenagers were arrested yesterday in connection with the incident. Apparently they had connected a gas pipe from a neighbouring building into the mosque and then tried to ignite it.
Stoke-on-Trent (Hanley is one of its six towns) has been described as its “jewel in the crown” by the BNP, and there has certainly been an increase in racist incidents in the area over recent years. (One of the frustrating aspects of Lambert and Githens-Mazer’s dubious study of hate crime against Muslims, discussed in this recent post, is the fact that they really do have a basis for their concerns.) Some might quibble with the judgement of Modernity and the local police that this was, technically, a racist attack. But it was certainly a deplorable incident.
