Twin reports on British Muslims raise eyebrows and deserve praise
Almost according to taste, two reports released within a few days of each other appear to tell contrasting stories. One says Britain’s Muslims are failing to integrate – or that Britain is failing to facilitate their integration – and identifies disturbing pockets of anti-western feeling. The other suggests they are pretty much the same as British non-Muslims in the way they view extremism.
Without wishing to cast doubt on the methodology of either Dame Louise Casey’s review, or the survey from the Policy Exchange think tank, it may be necessary to apply a pinch of salt to both sets of conclusions.
It is a welcome aspect of the UK government’s approach to community relations that it sought such a wide-ranging study. Ms Casey and her team have produced a thoughtful report. But Policy Exchange also deserves credit for its thoroughness. A sample of more than 3,000 people suggests a range of opinions and rigour of research going some way beyond what most opinion polls achieve. There is ample reason to commend both reports, and also reason to raise eyebrows at their findings.
For a start, former prime minister David Cameron wanted the Casey Review to be conducted as part of a central strategy of seeking to defeat extremism.
So all references in the report to an attachment within some Muslim communities of Britain to radical ideology are bound to be seen – however unjustly – as support for terrorism.
And we may be entitled to question the assertion of the Policy Exchange initiative that an overwhelming majority of British Muslims feel a strong sense of belonging to the country where they are making their lives. Not because they are lying, but because of where their deeper sympathies may, in some cases, rest. What does become clear from both reports is that not too much can be read into broad conclusions.
For example, the Casey Review reaches two disconcerting findings.
It finds that Salafist interpretations of Islam “and other literalist and intolerant interpretations” remain easily accessible and still appear popular in some parts of the UK, especially among the young and converts.
And it says speakers from the Deobandi revivalist movement have become increasingly prominent in Britain and – while not necessarily supporting terrorism – promote “anti-western and isolationist messages that are not conducive to integration”.
But if Policy Exchange’s report is to be regarded as credible, this suggestion could be seen as sitting uneasily with poll results showing British Muslims to be more likely, not less, to condemn political violence. A resounding 90 per cent opposed terrorism; only two per expressed sympathy.
And then there is the alternative view that can be taken of the findings of many surveys of public opinion. It is often said that most statistics can be hijacked by both sides of an argument, each able to avoid inconvenient data and locate sympathetic snippets to support its own position.
In the case of Policy Exchange’s survey, Britain’s Daily Mail covered the more positive aspects but gave greater prominence to a finding that only one in 25 British Muslims believed Al Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 attacks. When it is remembered how warmly terrorists and their sympathisers welcomed the carnage of that day, it may be difficult to take seriously the thought that 31 per cent of those polled believed the American government was behind the attacks.
It is worth remembering, however, that plenty of non-Muslims, too, subscribe to conspiracy theories.
In essence, there may be less reason to quarrel with either report than seems the case on first perusal. As Saeida Rouass, a senior official at the avowedly anti-extremist Quilliam Foundation put it, the Policy Exchange survey confirmed what many British Muslims have been saying for a long time: “We are just like everyone else, with similar concerns, aspirations, hopes and fears.” Khalid Mahmood, one of the Policy Exchange report’s authors and the Labour opposition’s spokesman on Europe, agrees. And he sees a thread common to both reports: the need to tackle extremism but also prejudice, the enormous responsibilities that weigh on the shoulders of institutions and the need for government to address issues that affect the ability of people from other cultures to accept and adopt those of Britain.
But in the briefest of conversations with The National, he also offered the most encouraging of summaries. “Yes,” he said, ”there is hope this can be achieved.”
‘ It is often said that most statistics can be hijacked by both sides of an argument, each able to avoid inconvenient data and locate sympathetic snippets to support its own position