Prince Charles tells Muslims in UK they should ‘abide by our values’
PRINCE Charles has said Muslims living in the UK should follow British values.
In a staunch defence of Britain’s ‘Christian standpoint’ he denounced the radicalisation of young Britons by Islamic fanatics and said they should show more respect to the values Britain holds dear.
The heir to Britain’s throne told BBC Radio 2 that people who had ‘come to Britain, were born here or went to school here should abide by our values’.
It is thought his comments, which come at the start of a six-day tour of the Middle East, are a response to critics who say he should not meddle in sensitive political matters.
The prince also plans to challenge Arab leaders head on during the trip. He is due to meet new Saudi king Salman bin Abdul Aziz al Saud in Jordan today.
Charles, who is on friendly terms with the Saudi royal family, plans to tell the Saudi king that he should stop the 1,000 lashes handed down as punishment to Saudi blogger Raif Badawi for comments that criticised Islam.
The king’s sentence of 1,000 lashes and 10 years in jail for Saudis who criticise Islam and their rulers has caused international outrage.
Diplomatic sources have suggested the king may pay more attention to Charles, a fellow royal, than a foreign political leader.
Charles also intends to use his tour to call for an end to attempts to drive Christians out of the region.
In the radio interview he said if nothing was done, the time could soon come when ‘there are no Christians left in the Middle East… they are intimidated to a degree you can’t believe’.
He added: ‘The tragedy is even greater because Christians have been in the Middle East for 2,000 years, before Islam came in the 8th Century.’
He describes ‘the radicalisation of people in Britain is a great worry’ and says the fact that young British Muslims heads are being turned by ‘crazy stuff on the internet’ is ‘frightening’.