“London Mayor Ken Livingstone put his finger on a huge problem when he noted that, although there are a mere couple of hundred ‘potentially violent’ Muslims in London, they are getting far more than their fair share of headlines and other groups, with extreme right-wing views, are being virtually ignored in the national press.

“The mayor is certainly correct in his assessment of the emphasis in the press, but that is not the whole story by a long way. It is true that the BBC and most of the national daily papers have descended into the pit of sensationalism and are now verging on racism in their overemphasis on any story involving Muslims, veils and anything that can be used to justify this government’s extremist and rabid crusade against what it sees as the unacceptable face of Islam, whether veiled or not.

“However, this is not a one-way traffic. The hysteria that the press is apparently attempting to stir up is being fuelled and fed by Labour politicians who should know a damn sight better.”

Editorial in Morning Star, 16 October 2006