COUNCILS across the UK are starting to adopt an agreed list of examples of Islamophobia.

However, so far, just three local authoritieshave adopted the APPG (All-Party Parliamentary Group) definition of Islamophobia. No councils in Lancashire have adopted the definition as yet.

Acts of Islamophobia from the list include accusing Muslim citizens of being more loyal to their countries of origin than to Britain, as well as accusing Muslims as a group of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Muslim person.

Oxford City council has this week become the latest in the UK to officially recognise the APPG definition which states:

"Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness."

The two other councils to adopt the definition are in London.

The list below states examples of Islamophobia that the councils now deem as unacceptable:

• Calling for, aiding, instigating or justifying the killing or harming of Muslims in the name of a racist/fascist ideology, or an extremist view of religion.

• Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Muslims as such, or of Muslims as a collective group, such as, especially but not exclusively, conspiracies about Muslim entryism in politics, government or other societal institutions; the myth of Muslim identity having a unique propensity for terrorism and claims of a demographic ‘threat’ posed by Muslims or of a ‘Muslim takeover’.

• Accusing Muslims as a group of being responsible for real or imagined wrongdoing committed by a single Muslim person or group of Muslim individuals, or even for acts committed by non-Muslims.

• Accusing Muslims as a group, or Muslim majority states, of inventing or exaggerating Islamophobia, ethnic cleansing or genocide perpetrated against Muslims.

• Accusing Muslim citizens of being more loyal to the ‘Ummah’ (transnational Muslim community) or to their countries of origin, or to the alleged priorities of Muslims worldwide, than to the interests of their own nations.

• Denying Muslim populations, the right to self-determination e.g., by claiming that the existence of an independent Palestine or Kashmir is a terrorist endeavour.

• Applying double standards by requiring of Muslims behaviours that are not expected or demanded of any other groups in society, eg loyalty tests.

• Using the symbols and images associated with classic Islamophobia.

• Holding Muslims collectively responsible for the actions of any Muslim majority state, whether secular or constitutionally Islamic.