I’LL DEFEAT THE FANATICS
Cameron’s mission to confront ‘the poison of Islamic extremism’
BRITAIN must abandon its ‘passive tolerance’ of Islamic extremism and enforce its own values, David Cameron said yesterday.
The Prime Minister pledged to confront ‘the poisonous Islamist extremist ideology’ sucking in young people and turning them into terrorists.
He also vowed to tackle ‘segregation’ on estates and in schools in northern towns and cities such as Bradford, Dewsbury and Oldham.
He warned that for too long the ‘fear of causing offence’ had led the authorities to turn a blind eye to horrific practices including forced marriage and female genital mutilation.
And he issued a challenge to Muslims to take on the intolerant ideas which ‘create a climate in which extremists can flourish’.
Speaking at Ninestiles School in Birmingham, which was caught up in t he Trojan Horse probe, he announced new powers for parents to have their children’s passports cancelled if they fear they are about to go to Syria to join Islamic State.
Mr Cameron turned his fire on a range of organisations, including:
Broadcasters for trying to create ‘explosive’ TV by putting extremists on air instead of moderates;
Internet companies for failing to help identify potential jihadis online;
Universities for ‘looking the other way’ over extremist speakers because of ‘misguided liberalism’;
Police, social services and councils for failing to deal with child sex abuse in Rotherham and elsewhere;
The National Union of Students for its ‘ shameful’ allegiance with the Cage group, one of whose officials described IS killer Jihadi John as a ‘beautiful young man’.
He said: ‘Too often we have lacked the confidence to enforce our values, for fear of causing offence.
‘We need everyone – Government, local authorities, police, schools, all of us – to enforce our values.’
Mr Cameron singled out internet companies as needing to do more. He made the point that while firms are happy to track internet use via ‘cookies’ to help online advertisers, they are less willing to monitor the web use of suspected radicals.
‘When it comes to doing what’s right for their businesses they’re happy to engineer technologies that track our likes and our dislikes,’ he said, without naming specific firms.
‘But when it comes to doing what’s right in the fight against terrorism we too often hear that it’s all too difficult – I’m sorry, I just don’t buy that.’
Mr Cameron also made clear the responsibility of families, saying: ‘If [young people] hear parts of the extremist worldview in their home ... it will help legitimise it.’
He announced a review led by civil servant Louise Casey into how to help Muslim communities integrate.
Mr Cameron said it was not enough for extremists to oppose IS – also known as Daesh – for them to prove they were not a threat. He claimed groups should also be expected to condemn conspiracy theories and anti-semitism. ‘We need to put out of action the key extremist influencers who are careful to operate just inside the law but who clearly detest British society,’ he added.
‘Let’s be clear who benefits most from us being tough on these nonviolent extremists – it’s Muslim families living in fear that their children could be radicalised ... and communities worried about some poisonous far-Right extremists planning to attack your mosque.’
Mr Cameron said it was wrong to deny ‘any connection’ between the religion of Islam and extremism.
Extremists were ‘self-identifying as Muslims’ and spouting a ‘twisted narrative’, he said, adding: ‘To deny it has anything to do with Islam means you disempower the critical reforming voices.’ Later this year ministers will introduce an Extremism Bill, likely to include powers to target radical preachers.
Mr Cameron said: ‘My argument with young people being sucked towards this appalling extremist Isil worldview is – you are heading towards a belief system that believes in throwing people off buildings, raping children, enslaving women.’
But Muslim group the Ramadhan Foundation criticised Mr Cameron for using the term ‘grievance justification’, which suggests wars and poverty make people turn to extremism. Chief executive Mohammed Shafiq said that to suggest that ‘somehow we’re saying foreign policy is an excuse is really offensive’.
Dr Shuja Shafi, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he agreed ‘we must deglamorise the Daesh cause’. But he warned the definition of extremism put forward by the Prime Minister could ‘brand us all as extremists’.
Comment – Page 14
‘Confidence to enforce our values’