Brave call from plain speaking minister

THE Mail applauds Culture Secretary Sajid Javid’s brave and impassioned call to his fellow Muslims yesterday to be more vigilant in rooting out the extremists in their midst.

No longer can they pretend, he said, that fanatics who cite the Koran as justification for murder have nothing whatsoever to do with Islam. They are in fact using this ‘great and peaceful religion’ as a ‘tool’ to carry out their atrocities.

And while helping the police and security services to identify and deal with militants is the responsibility of every citizen, he said there is a ‘special burden’ on Muslims to act.

It was a bold intervention from a man who in his short time as a Cabinet minister has shown a refreshing gift for plain speaking and common sense.

Some will doubtless accuse him of playing a ‘blame game’.

But although the overwhelming majority of Muslims are rightly horrified by the atrocities committed in the name of Islam, some have been slow to tackle intolerance in their communities, allowing radicalism and militancy to breed.

For the safety of Muslims and nonMuslims alike, this reticence must end.

Perhaps the most poignant image of the three days of carnage in France was the helpless Muslim policeman Ahmed Merabet being executed in cold blood by an Al Qaeda assassin. Could there be more convincing proof that we are all in this struggle together? Millions came together i n France yesterday in a moving demonstration of defiance and unity against these murderous barbarians. Britons of all faiths must now do the same.