Blair: Voice of moderate Islam must speak out
The threat posed by Islamic extremism can only be taken on and defeated by the Muslim community itself, Tony Blair said today.
The prime minister told MPs that while the government would do all it could, the “moderate voice of Islam” must speak out if terrorism was to be defeated.
In the first prime minister’s question time since Thursday’s terror attacks in London, Mr Blair condemned the more than 100 reported race hate attacks on members of the British Asian community over the past few days.
News that the four bombers were British-born Muslims has prompted fears of a backlash against the Muslim community, and Mr Blair was joined by opposition leaders in urging calm.
Mr Blair said that Muslims in the UK were “overwhelmingly law abiding, decent members of society”.
And when asked about rightwing extremists stirring up racial hatred, he said that “part of our way of life is tolerance and respect” and it was “particularly revolting for anyone to exploit these attacks for racism”.
Conservative leader Michael Howard said anyone who nurtured resentment against Britain’s Muslim community “is the enemy of us all” and would be doing exactly what terrorists wanted them to do, that is “dividing us one from another”.
The prime minister said the government would begin consultation with opposition parties on further anti-terrorist legislation due to come before the Commons in the autumn, and would review how immigration procedures could be strengthened.
“But I think we all know that security measures alone are not going to deal with this. This was not an isolated criminal act, it is an extreme and evil ideology whose roots lie in a perverted and poisonous misinterpretation of Islam,” he said.
Mr Blair said he was meeting with Muslim leaders with a view to establishing “the right way forward within the Muslim community”, saying: “This can only be taken on defeated by the community itself, but we can all help.”
This help would take the form of cooperation between Muslim and non-Muslim nations on “how to mobilize internationally the moderate voice of Islam”, he said.
Action was being taken in Jordan, Egypt and Indonesia on “how the ground could be recaptured for moderate Islam, which is the voice of true Islam” and it was important that Britain did what it could to support this process.
Mr Blair’s comments were echoed by Shahid Malik, the first British-born Muslim MP, who said yesterday’s news of the bombers’ identities presented the Muslim community in the UK with “the most profound challenge yet”.
“Condemnation is not enough, and British Muslims must be prepared to confront the evil head on. This is a defining moment for this country and I hope [the government] shares my confidence that the Muslim community is equal to the challenge,” he said.
Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy expressed the “national dismay” that the bombers were British and said it was “incumbent on all of us” to continue to stress the fact that the vast majority of British Muslims totally condemned the London attacks.
He welcomed greater cooperation between the political parties and Muslim community leaders, adding that the issue of extremism was “not simply an issue for the Muslim community alone, but is for all of us in this country and those that share British citizenship”.
