British foreign policy must not be dictated by terrorists, British Home Secretary John Reid said today amid renewed criticism of a call from leading Muslims for it to be changed.
Leading Muslim organisations and politicians signed an open letter to Tony Blair yesterday saying his stance on Iraq and the Middle East was providing "ammunition" to terrorists.
A shift in policy was required "to show the world that we value the lives of civilians wherever they live and whatever their religion" and make Britain a safer place, it said.
Downing Street said the Prime Minister "stands ready" to confront his critics when he returns from his summer holiday and defended his record on seeking peace in the Middle East.
And Mr Reid - who has been leading the Government's response to the alleged airliner bomb plot - became the latest politician to attack the message of the letter.
"I'm not going to question the motives of anyone who has signed this letter but I think it is a dreadful misjudgment if we believe that the foreign policy of this country should be shaped in part, or in whole, under the threat of terrorist activity if we do not have a foreign policy with which the terrorists happen to agree," he told BBC News 24.
"No Government worth its salt would stay in power in my view and no government worth its salt would be supported by the British people if our foreign policy, or any other aspect of policy, was being dictated by terrorists.
"That's not the British way, it's antithetical to our very central values. We make decisions in this country by democracy not under the threat of terrorism."
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett had previously said yesterday that people who blamed Britain's foreign policy for the terror threat were making "the gravest possible error".
And Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said it was "dangerous and foolish". Conservative politicians also weighed in to the dispute today.
Shadow home secretary David Davis said that while opposition to foreign policy could be "part of the catalyst" behind terrorism - critics risked becoming "apologists" for their actions.
"It might be part of the catalyst but to explain this is not to excuse it," he told Sky News.
"There are plenty of people with legitimate arguments with the Government's foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Lebanon and the Middle East.
"But none of them take the stance of attempting to murder many thousands of their fellow citizens.
"These people who say these things aren't setting out to be apologists for the terrorists but they end up providing a sort of apologia."
Former Tory leader Michael Howard said the letter was "completely misconceived" and accused its authors of trying to "blackmail" the Government.