Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, published a new report, "Muslims in London".

The report draws on a range of data to illustrate the diversity of London's Muslim communities and barriers faced by Muslims in everyday life and comes ahead of the first ever Eid celebrations in Trafalgar Square, organised by the Muslim Council of Britain and the Mayor of London.

Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone said:

"London's future success and prosperity as a global city depends on our ability to welcome and respect people from all over the world. One in twelve Londoners is Muslim and the London's Muslim communities, in all their diversity, must play an essential part in the life of our city.

"However Muslims in London face serious discrimination and prejudice. London's Muslims have the lowest rates of employment of all the faith groups. Only 15 per cent of Muslim women aged 25 and over work full time compared with 37 per cent of women in the general population. Muslims are disproportionately victims of religiously aggravated crime, more so than any other faith.

"The report makes a number of recommendations for work by the Mayor, Government, Boroughs and public bodies including the MPS and LDA to; improve monitoring and research, investigate direct and indirect discrimination and improve the representation of Muslims in local, regional and national government.

"The launch of 'Muslims in London' is timely given the current debates about Islam and Muslims, particularly in the media. I hope this report will increase understanding between communities and combat some of the ignorance, prejudice and Islamophobia stirred up by some sections of the media.

"I am pleased that this report is being launched only days before the first ever Eid Festival in Trafalgar Square organised by the Muslim Council of Britain and my office. Eid ul-fitr is the most auspicious day of the Muslim calendar. It is a day of great joy and serves as a reminder to people of all faiths of the importance of peace, compassion, unity and charity."

Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain, said:

"This is a ground-breaking report that brings together statistics and information from a variety of sources in a single, easily accessible volume. It also documents the needs of the community and identifies policy initiatives. The report is a role model for other major cities in the UK and even for mainland Europe. The MCB thanks Mayor Livingstone for this initiative and the GLA team that has done the hard work.

"I welcome the first ever 'Eid in the Square' event in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 28 October 2006. The Muslim Council of Britain is delighted to be working with the Mayor of London in welcoming Londoners from all backgrounds to the Eid in the Square event to commemorate the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

According to the report;

"Muslims in London face several barriers to employment, including educational underachievement, discrimination, lack of affordable and appropriate childcare, lack of suitable training, travel costs and housing costs."

The report, "Muslims in London" also highlighted the fact that Muslims make up 8.5 percent of the capital's population, yet they are under-represented on its councils and among its workforce. There is "significant under-representation" of Muslim communities in all spheres of public life, the report, drawing upon the 2001 Census and other sources, said.

There's only one Muslim MP representing a London constituency. Also, there are only 63 Muslim councilors, where proportionally there should be 169.

The report stressed that Muslims should have a greater role in London's politics as well as economy as this will help end prejudice and discrimination against them. It called for electing more Muslims to public office and serve in public bodies like the police, the education system and the civil service, according to Reuters.

London's Mayor, who said that the report reflected the Nazi propaganda of the 1930s, also accused the media of running a "totally one-sided" debate.

"It is important that the role of the media in promoting negative stereotypes of Muslims and Islam is challenged," the report added.

Dr. Abdul Bari on the other hand, attributed Muslim unemployment and deprivation to tensions.

Livingstone furthermore blamed employers and housing associations for the high unemployment rates among Muslims. London is home to 706,000 Muslims, of which 40% were born in the UK (according to the 2001 census).

The report also found only 42 percent of Muslims aged between 16 and 24 were economically active, compared with 60 percent of the general population.

In 2005-2006, more than 1,000 religiously aggravated attacks were reported in the capital, 87% increase since the previous year.

The report, added Dr. Muhammad Abdul Bari, Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB), and the report's co-author, documented "the needs of the community and identifies policy initiatives. The report is a role model for other major cities".