‘Now we are taking our tolerance to extremes’

Sue Caroll says the appeasement of Muslims is getting out of hand: “how much more respect can we pay a religion which is alien to most of us in almost every sense? Already some parts of Britain have virtually abandoned any recognition of Christmas as a Christian celebration. As taxpayers, we fund Islamic schools and the English flag is no longer allowed in English prisons, in case the red cross offends Muslims. Meanwhile, Cherie Blair is defending the human rights of Shabina Begum in her fight to wear a head-to-toe jilbab to school.”

And despite the fact that “we” bend over backwards to conciliate this alien faith, “we” are blamed for the alienation felt by Muslim communities: “Sorry, it won’t wash. If anyone is to blame, it’s the fundamentalist and extremist mullahs and clerics who rule Muslim communities. They seem determined to impose on us all a set of sharia rules, laid down in the 10th century, which are totally out of step in a civilised world.”

Daily Mirror, 22 February 2006