Muslim zealots are mirror image of BNP, says Cameron

BRITAIN:Conservative leader David Cameron has said those seeking a sharia state or separate treatment or laws for British Muslims are the mirror image of the far-right British National Party.

And he has joined the growing debate about multiculturalism in the UK, saying it has been manipulated to favour a divisive idea - the right to difference - instead of promoting the unifying concept that people have the right to be treated equally, regardless of differences.

In a keynote speech in Birmingham yesterday, Mr Cameron identified five barriers, or "Berlin walls of division", in the way of community cohesion in modern Britain - extremism, multiculturalism, uncontrolled immigration, poverty and educational apartheid. And he coupled that with a strong insistence that politicians should "not hide behind the screen of cultural sensitivity" but say publicly that no woman in Britain should be denied rights that both their religion and their country support.

The Tory leader said urban areas of multiple deprivation were "a breeding ground for resentment and division". Likewise, those left behind by the educational system became "prime targets for extremists who offer easy explanations and point the finger of blame at other people".

He warned against politicians giving the impression that these questions of community cohesion and Britishness were all about terrorism, or all about Muslims.

"If we do, then we actually make it harder to beat the terrorist threat. And we make it harder to bring our country together. We need to bring our country together not just to help beat terrorism, but because it is the right thing to do."

At the same time, he said, it was necessary to "mobilise the instruments of public policy" to draw people away from supporting extremist ideologies. He attacked the "myth" that all Muslim women were subservient observers rather than active participants in British society.

"But we must not be naive. There are still issues we must tackle. In certain sections of the community women are being denied access to education, work, involvement in the political process - and, surprisingly, even denied access to mosques."

Women had told him "time and time again" that the denial of these opportunities was "not because of their Islamic faith, but because of current cultural interpretations in Britain".

It was necessary then, he said, to "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."

Mr Cameron also resumed his attack on the Blair government's handling of these issues, saying: "Let's not pretend we can bully people into feeling British. We have to inspire them.

"The things that divide us are not the differences in our faith or colour . . . What divides us are the barriers. The barriers between rich and poor. Between those who have opportunity and those who do not. Between those who see this country as a place of hope and those who can only see despair." "We must bring down the barriers in this country. We must push forward the frontiers of fairness."

The Conservative leader's speech came against the bleak backdrop of a new report which suggests a generation of young British Muslims are being radicalised by anti-western views and are adopting much more fundamentalist beliefs on political and social issues than their parents or grandparents.

A study for the right-wing think tank, Policy Exchange, found 40 per cent of Muslims between the ages of 16 and 24 would prefer to live under sharia law in Britain, with one in eight saying they admired groups such as al-Qaeda, and three out of four preferring Muslim women to "choose to wear the veil or hijab".