Shocked by the rise of militant Islam in Britain

Daily Express, 29 January 2007

Young people are our future, which is why a recent poll of Muslims in the UK gives deep cause for concern. Increasingly, the 16 to 24 age group is rejecting the often moderate beliefs of the older generation in favour of a radical, politicised interpretation of Islam. This is the group which would welcome Sharia law; would like to see women wearing the hijab; and is most likely to admire Al Qaeda.

While other findings are more reassuring (84 per cent of Muslims believe they are treated fairly in British society) it has always been clear that dangerous extremism will spring from a minority which the peaceful majority is unable to contain. This is quite likely to mean parents do not even know that their children have been brainwashed by fundamentalists.

But extremist clerics are not solely to blame. We must also point the finger at the now widely discredited policy of multiculturalism, which has been the constant background music of these young people’s lives. It has encouraged feelings of difference and separateness – and discouraged any sense of pride in being British. The result? Thousands of youngsters harbour sympathy for suicide bombers and despise the society they were born into. Surely an alarming prospect for us all.

Shocking evidence of the radicalisation of young British Muslims emerged last night after a poll showed more than one- third want Islamic law imposed in the UK.

Three-quarters of Muslims aged 16-24 believe women should be forced to wear veils or headscarves and a third believe heretics who give up the Islamic faith deserve to be put to death, research also reveals. The survey also found more than one in eight young adult believers “admires” Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Think-tank Policy Exchange, which commissioned the poll, blamed Government-sponsored multi-cultural policies for encouraging the separation of ethnic and religious social groups that fuels fanaticism.

The findings provoked widespread concern last night. Tory MP Philip Davies said: “It is very alarming but it is completely correct to say that multi-cultural policies are the cause of these sorts of attitudes. Labour has done virtually anything possible to avoid getting Muslims to integrate into British society.”

Today, David Cameron will admit that “uncontrolled immigration” has undermined social harmony in Britain. “You can’t have proper integration if people are coming into Britain at a faster rate than we can cope with,” he will say in a speech in Birmingham.

Munira Mirza, the report’s author, said: “The emergence of a strong Muslim identity in Britain is, in part, a result of multicultural policies implemented since the 1980s which have emphasised difference at the expense of shared national identity and divided people along ethnic, religious and cultural lines.”

Daily Express, 29 January 2007

David Cameron last night launched his most outspoken attack on the doctrine of multi-culturalism, which he said had undermined Britain.

He criticised “clunking” government initiatives designed to redress the balance. He said it was “time for a more British approach” and he promised that a Tory administration would wage a “crusade for fairness”.

The Tory leader said: “Yes, we need to ensure that every one of our citizens can speak to each other in our national language. Yes, we need to ensure that our children are taught British history properly. And I do think it is important to create more opportunities for celebrating our sense of nationhood.

“We will set out a clear and consistent path to ensure these things actually happen, starting with our policy review, which will make specific recommendations this week.”

The report by the Conservatives’ policy commission on national security will highlight the issue of segregation in Muslim communities and call for forced marriage to be made a criminal offence. It will also criticise the removal of Asian girls from sixth forms and question whether some Muslim parents are supporting their daughters’ desire for education. It will warn that in some parts of the community women are being denied access to education, work and involvement in the political process and even denied access to mosques.

Mr Cameron will say in a speech tomorrow in Birmingham that a Tory administration would be “bold and not hide behind the screen of cultural sensitivity to say publicly that no woman should be denied rights which both their religion and their country, Britain, support”.

In an article for the Observer, he said: “The doctrine of multiculturalism has undermined our nation’s sense of cohesion because it emphasises what divides us rather than what brings us together. It has been manipulated to entrench the right to difference, a unifying [sic – should read ‘divisive’] concept.”

In a veiled attack on ministers such as John Reid and Gordon Brown, who have both championed Britishness, he said: “It’s no use behaving like the proverbial English tourist abroad, shouting ever more loudly at the hapless foreigner who doesn’t understand what is behind said. We can’t bully people into feeling British – we have to inspire them.”

Sunday Telegraph, 28 January 2007

See also David Cameron, “No one will be left behind in a Tory Britain”, Observer, 28 January 2007

A classic example of two-faced Cameronism – presenting a liberal image by criticising the government for “instructing Muslim parents to spy on their children” while appeasing his core supporters with a right-wing attack on multiculturalism.