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The imam hailed for his heroism in the Finsbury Park terror attack today condemns the Government’s “lacklustre” efforts to fight Islamophobia.

Mohammed Mahmoud accuses ministers of failing to show “meaningful engagement” with the Muslim community that is feeling increasingly “vulnerable”.

Writing exclusively for the Evening Standard, in his first article since the horrific incident in June last year, he said the Government’s actions were “lacklustre, or worse, in denial”.

Mr Mahmoud was praised around the world for his brave and compassionate response to the murderous attack on members of his congregation.

Displaying extraordinary calm, he saw a crowd attacking Darren Osborne, 48, who had driven a van into the worshippers, and stepped in to stop him being assaulted.

Makram Ali, 51, was killed in the terror attack on June 19, and 12 others were injured. Osborne, who had been radicalised by Right-wingers online, was jailed for life in February with a recommendation that he serve at least 43 years behind bars.

A year on, Mr Mahmoud said he felt he had to speak out over what he sees as a failure by the Government to tackle hate crimes against Muslims.

He suggested Islamophobia was becoming more mainstream and backed calls for an independent inquiry into allegations of the issue made against Conservative Party members.

“Any community hit by terrorism should see meaningful engagement from the Government,” said the imam who was one of 12 individuals honoured in the Evening Standard’s Progress 1000 list for their heroic actions in 2017.

“But we’re still waiting for that to happen — which is not lost on a community that still feels vulnerable.

“It is made more urgent as Islamophobia no longer simmers under the surface of the fringes of society.

“My own congregation are increasingly reporting Islamophobic abuse, from having their headscarves removed to facing racist chants.”

Official figures show reports of Islamophobic incidents are on the rise. More than 700 such offences have been reported to the Metropolitan Police so far this year. Westminster has the highest number, 82, followed by Tower Hamlets, 43, Brent, 41, Waltham Forest 38, Newham 37, Haringey, 35, Camden 34 and Southwark 33.

The number of these hate crime recorded by the police has risen steadily in recent years, from an average of 28 a month in the year to June 2011, to 68 in the 12 months to June 2015, breaking the 100-mark the following year. Islamophobic attacks peaked at 129 a month in the year to June 2017. That figure included a sharp spike in hate crimes following the London Bridge, Westminster and Manchester terror attacks. They fell back slightly to 122 a month in the year to June this year, but the trend remains on an upward trajectory, and many more offences could be going unreported.

Mr Mahmoud added: “Recently Muslims around the country received ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ letters, awarding points for inflicting maximum injury to British Muslims. Nearly all Muslim MPs received suspect packages as part of this campaign.

“Yet, despite the rising scale and severity of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred, the response from the Government has been lacklustre, or worse, in denial.”

Calling for action against hate crimes to be stepped up significantly, he stressed: “My hope is that the Finsbury Park attack will be a wake-up call to our nation that we must stop tolerating Islamophobia.” The Muslim Council of Britain has called for an independent inquiry into alleged Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, which the imam said “should now be met”.

Former Tory co-chairwoman Baroness Warsi has also demanded an inquiry, believing the problem to be “very widespread”. Examples include a Tory candidate who shared a Facebook post of bacon hanging from a door handle with the caption “protect your house from terrorism”.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “We take positive action to investigate all hate crime, support victims, bring perpetrators to justice and encourage all victims and witnesses to come forward.

“We are always seeking ways to increase reporting and work with a number of third party reporting sites, so that victims who would otherwise feel unable to approach police direct can report crime to non-police organisations and individuals.”

A Conservative Party spokesman said in response to Mr Mahmoud: “The party takes all allegations of discrimination extremely seriously and has a clear and fully transparent process to investigate complaints made to it under the party’s code of conduct.

“When cases have been reported centrally the Conservative Party has consistently acted decisively, suspending or expelling those involved and launching an immediate investigation. In addition, the swift action we take on not just anti-Muslim discrimination, but discrimination of any kind is testament to the seriousness with which we take such issues.”

A Government spokesman said: “All hate crimes are absolutely unacceptable. They have no place in our society and we will do all we can to make sure that the perpetrators feel the full force of the law and victims get all the support they need.

“We’re working closely with the survivors of the Finsbury Park terror attack, including holding meetings last week. A further meeting is planned next month.

“We have taken strong action to stamp out anti-Muslim hatred including funding Tell MAMA to record incidents and support victims, and committing £3.4m to provide protective security funding for places of worship, including mosques.

“Later this year we will publish the refreshed Hate Crime Action Plan, which will set out further ways to tackle these completely intolerable crimes.”