Nadiya's Victory Is Socially Important

The most watched television programme of the year was the final of a baking competition. Almost a quarter of the nation tuned in to see Nadiya Hussain win the, a competition comparable to those held at village fetes the nation over. But Hussain's victory is much more important to British society...

The most watched television programme of the year was the final of a baking competition. Almost a quarter of the nation tuned in to see Nadiya Hussain win the Great British Bake Off, a competition comparable to those held at village fetes the nation over. But Hussain's victory is much more important to British society.

For many of us it seems bizarre that a programme about baking is so revered at all and probably that extra bit bizarre that it has the power to help change social attitudes in this country. I wish Nadiya's victory was as understated as the victories of her predecessors - but it isn't, because she's Muslim.

If we were in any doubt that Islamophobia and xenophobia weren't still high on the list of Britain's social ills, we were shown that wasn't true this last week. The Conservative MP and home secretary Theresa May made a disgusting attack on mass immigration an affront to 'cohesive society' this week and was upstaged just a few days later when the aforementioned Hussain, a British woman of Bangladeshi heritage, scooped TV's biggest prize.

After Nadiya's win, the Daily Mail tenuously and disgustingly made every pathetic effort to stringently link her heritage and ethnicity to terrorism, indirectly attributing her to the 2005 bombings in London by referring to the fact her wedding took place in the same year as relevant... seriously.

Xenophobia and Islamophobia are still rife in this country. In London, one of the nation's most cosmopolitan and presumably tolerant cities, Islamophobic hate crimes rose by 70% over the last year, and 60% of those crimes targeted Muslim women. Why? Because of the repugnantly stupid assumption that being Muslim and having Islamist sympathies are mutually exclusive.

And despite immigrants being a net contribution to our economy, and despite the fact that Britain is in fact only filled 2% to capacity, immigration is the biggest concern for the nation's voters and 57% of people think immigration should be 'reduced a lot'.

Yes, all Nadiya did was step out of her comfort zone and bake, and bake well for that matter. But, without trying she has endeared herself to millions and counteracted the damaging messages from the right of the political spectrum that British Muslims are less British than the rest of 'us', and that generations of immigration damage the fabrics of society. We need more messages of equality, inclusivity and tolerance in this country - and a baking competition is doing far more than our government to promote that. Nadiya Hussain is the deserved winner of the Great British Bake Off, but her greatest victory isn't her dazzling lemon drizzle wedding cake but her unintentional yet vital uprooting of stereotypes and bigotry.

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