Islamophobic social media video of Cardiff Mosque condemned

Emily Price

The Muslim Council of Wales and Senedd politicians have condemned an Islamophobic social media post about a Cardiff mosque shared online by the co-leader of Britain First.

Paul Golding posted the video to X, formerly Twitter, of Alice Street in Butetown as the Call to Prayer was played from a tannoy outside the South Wales Islamic Centre.

The announcement recited in Arabic calls worshippers to the mosque for each of the five daily ritual prayers.

Sharing the video, Mr Golding wrote: “Islamic chants being blasted at full volume from a mosque in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. This is unacceptable.

“This is Britain, not Saudi Arabia. We are a Christian nation.”

The video went viral racking up millions of views and attracting a string of racist comments.

Butetown is home to one of the longest established Muslim communities in the UK after groups of Yemeni and Somali seafarers made their home there in the mid-1800’s.

The Muslim Council of Wales branded Mr Golding as a “divisive fringe voice” who was attempting to rewrite Cardiff’s rich multicultural history.

Secretary General, Dr Abdul Azim Ahmed, said: “Wales has one of the oldest Muslim communities in Britain, and the Cardiff docks is home to a Muslim community that dates back over a century. Muslims helped make Cardiff the capital city that it is today. Wales is a nation of many faiths, and Islam is a Welsh religion.

“Divisive and fringe voices are seeking to re-write history and undermine our common belonging to one another here in Wales and the United Kingdom. We must always reject their calls to hatred.”

‘Loving’

St Mary’s Church – which is located just minutes from the mosque – similarly hit out at Mr Golding for his offensive comments.

In an X post, they said: “Strange that this person makes this comment from a Christian perspective. Maybe he should speak to actual Christians who live just a few mins from this mosque where we have many friends with whom we work to make our community strong and loving. This is Cardiff. This is Butetown.”

Tory Darren Millar who is the Chair of the Senedd’s Cross Party Group on Faith also slammed the anti-migrant party leader for his attack on Cardiff’s Muslim community.

He said: “Relationships between Wales’ Muslim and other faith communities are warm and friendly. No matter how hard people like Mr Golding try to stoke division, we will continue to resist all attempts to promote hate and misunderstanding.”

Mr Golding, who hails from Kent, co-founded Britain First in 2011 following a stint as a British National Party councillor.

In 2016, he was banned from entering mosques in Wales and England but was later jailed after breaching the injunction having attempted to enter a mosque in Cardiff.

Jailed

Two years later both he and Britain First’s deputy leader Jayda Fransen were jailed for harrassement after targeting religious minorities, particularly Muslims.

In 2020, he was found guilty under the Terrorism Act after he refused police access to his phone at Heathrow when he returned from a political trip to Russia.

Plaid Cymru spokesperson for Social Justice and Early Years, Sioned Williams branded Mr Golding’s attack on the Muslim faith “completely unacceptable”.

She said: “Such Islamophobia has no place in Wales. We are a proud multicultural and multifaith nation that has been built on tolerance and celebrating diversity.

“In the face of the far right’s threat to the peaceful and inclusive nature of our communities, it is important that we stand together to call out this type of racist hate.”