Stop appeasing the Islamic extremists, demands Cameron

DAViD Cameron yesterday pledged to end the appeasement of islamist extremism, and demanded that everyone in britain show ‘loyalty’ to this country and its values.

in a stark warning, he said 2016 will be a ‘test of our mettle’ in the battle against radicals with a ‘seething hatred’ of this country and the West.

issuing an uncompromising New Year message, the Prime Minister said anyone who walks the streets of britain must subscribe to its values, including freedom and tolerance.

the uK and its people should ‘revel’ in their way of life, he said, as he promised to ‘come down hard’ on radicals.

Mr Cameron’s words reflect his determination to confront what he calls the ‘poisonous ideology’ that has turned young Muslims against their country.

there is huge concern in government, the police and the security services about the radicalisation of young britons online by islamic state militants.

At least 700 britons are thought to have travelled to fight for is in syria and iraq, and around half have returned home.

His comments come ahead of the publication this year of a major review into

‘Seething hatred

for the West’

how to promote integration in communities cut off from the rest of society.

the review, by civil servant Louise Casey, is expected to deliver some ‘hard truths’ to the Muslim community and lead to new policies.

in a video posted on the Downing street website, Mr Cameron said extremism was a major social problem which he would ‘take on’.

He has previously warned of the dangers posed by people in britain who ‘quietly condone’ the extremist ideology of is, without explicitly supporting violence.

Yesterday he reinforced his message that it was not only the gunmen and bombers who needed to be tackled.

‘When our national security is threatened by a seething hatred of the West, one that turns people against their country and can even turn them into murderous extremists, i want us to be very clear: you will not defeat us,’ said Mr Cameron.

‘And we will not just confront the violence and the terror. We will take on their underlying, poisonous narrative of grievance and resentment.

‘We will come down hard on those who create the conditions for that narrative to flourish. And we will have greater confidence in – indeed, we will revel in – our way of life. because if you walk our streets, learn in our schools, benefit from our society, you sign up to our values: freedom; tolerance; responsibility; loyalty.’

the choice on extremism was whether to ‘appease the extremists or take apart their ideology, piece by piece’, he said.

Mr Cameron identified tackling extremism as one of the ‘big challenges of our age’, along with poverty, social mobility and housing. He said the country was in the middle of a ‘turnaround decade’ in which he wanted to transform society, having built a strong economy.

His words on extremism will cause dismay among many Muslims, who feel they are being unfairly singled out.

in a speech on extremism in July, Mr Cameron warned that young Muslims may be turning to terrorism because they grow up in insular communities and have no ‘allegiance’ to this country. He said some young people are vulnerable to swallowing ‘poisonous’ propaganda.

Last year Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for birmingham Perry barr, claimed that as many as 2,000 britons are fighting alongside islamist militants in syria and iraq – at least three times the official estimate.

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