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Oct
Council defends decision to invite speaker who said Virgin Mary ‘wore a hijab’
North Yorkshire Council has defended inviting a speaker who claimed the Virgin Mary “wore a hijab” to give a presentation attended by council staff.
The authority said the session was intended to expose staff to different perspectives and encourage debate rather than promote a particular viewpoint, stressing that the speaker was not paid and the presentation was not training.
The response follows criticism about a presentation delivered by Abbas Najib, a former police officer and chief executive of charity Better Communities Bradford, as part of the York and North Yorkshire Hate Crime Conference in 2025.
Reports in the national media have focused on material used in the presentation about Islamophobia, including a claim that the Virgin Mary “wore a hijab”.
The presentation also examined comments made by Reform UK leader Nigel Farage about British values and asked attendees to consider the potential impact of public language.
Odette Robson, North Yorkshire Council’s head of community safety and CCTV, said:
We invited a guest speaker to deliver a presentation as part of the York and North Yorkshire Hate Crime Conference, a joint initiative alongside partners at City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police.
As a public authority, we believe it is important that staff understand the experiences and perspectives of the diverse communities they serve.
Public services are most effective when they are informed by a broad range of voices and experiences. Hearing perspectives that may challenge existing assumptions can help deepen understanding of issues such as race, faith, identity, integration and community relations.
Ms Robson stressed that the presentation was not training and said Mr Najib was not paid to deliver it.
She added:
Attendees were free to question evidence, test assertions and explore alternative viewpoints. The purpose was to encourage discussion and reflection rather than to promote any particular standpoint.
We recognise that people may hold differing opinions on some of the issues raised. However, we believe there is value in creating opportunities for open and respectful dialogue.
However, the event has been criticised by two North Yorkshire councillors.
Cllr Tom Seston
Reform UK group leader Cllr Tom Seston described the event as “emblematic of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) racket” and claimed institutions were bringing in “professional activists”.
He added:
A Reform council would scrap all DEI initiatives such as this and put council staff back to work delivering for residents, instead of receiving political lectures from anti-British activists.
North Yorkshire Council should ban this activist and his charity from all work with the council.
Independent councillor Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff also criticised the event and the reference to the Virgin Mary.
She said:
I am deeply disturbed that taxpayers’ money was used to fund political propaganda being fed to council staff members.
In particular, the reference to Mary, the Mother of God, wearing a hijab is both inaccurate and unacceptable.
The council disputes part of that criticism, however, saying the speaker himself received no payment for the presentation.
Cllr Donohue-Moncrieff, who is Roman Catholic, added:
Mary is not just some random historical figure to be used to justify Islam.
These types of references are not intended to explain Islam. They are a Trojan horse designed to diminish Roman Catholicism and Christianity as a whole.
North Yorkshire Council should apologise and ensure that training of this nature never happens again.
Mr Najib has separately defended his work, saying Project Unity seeks to reduce anti-Muslim hostility and build trust between communities.
He said workshops examine how public language can contribute to prejudice and apply the same standards to generalisations about different minority groups.
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