Islamophobia: Baroness Warsi Waxes Distinctly Fuzzy
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Baroness Warsi's speech on Islamophobia was packed with sanctimonious generalities, laments Jenny McCartney.

As Baroness Warsi, the Conservative Party chairman, discovered rather brutally last week, it's a tricky job being both an establishment politician and a member of a minority community. If you start lecturing your community too stridently, you will gradually drive away anyone you might hope to influence; if you defend it too robustly, you run the risk of infuriating the majority.

I appreciate the delicacy of the task, because I spent my youth watching politicians negotiate the explosive nuances of the overheated politics of Northern Ireland. But the chief problem with Baroness Warsi's speech on faith in Leicester last week was different: amid some thoughtful points, there were large patches that were hopelessly confusing.

Some of it struck home. She remarked that "Islamophobia has now passed the dinner-party test" in becoming socially acceptable. "Islamophobia" is a word I would rather avoid, because it is both incendiary and vague. None the less, I think she is broadly right: many people are undoubtedly less inhibited about verbally attacking Islam than they would have been 10 years ago, in part because Islamist militancy is on the rise. They are also more vocal, as it happens, in criticising Christianity.

Since religions are belief systems, I see no problem in people questioning the principles upon which they are based. What is objectionable is when critics extend their attack to the believers, and lazily assume that "Muslims" are a solid mass who all think and behave in exactly the same way. I have, over the years, had sharp run-ins with many supposedly educated non-Muslims who bandy the label with a sweeping, arrogant mixture of fear and contempt. Such sloppiness makes no distinction between Salmaan Taseer, the late governor of the Punjab whose moral courage few in the West could hope to match, and his murderer. >>> Jenny McCartney | Saturday, January 22, 2011

I wrote the following comment on this article:

…I see no problem in people questioning the principles upon which they are based. What is objectionable is when critics extend their attack to the believers, and lazily assume that "Muslims" are a solid mass who all think and behave in exactly the same way. I have, over the years, had sharp run-ins with many supposedly educated non-Muslims who bandy the label with a sweeping, arrogant mixture of fear and contempt.

This is politically correct gobbledygook! Furthermore, you cannot compare the Islamic problem with the Irish question. Islam is in so many ways unique. And uniquely problematic to boot!

People in the establishment who don’t understand keep prattling on about moderate Muslims and keep prefacing everything they utter with “the vast majority of Muslims are law-abiding citizens who want nothing to do with extremism”, or some such unproven banality. I, for one, am sick to the back teeth of all the twaddle.

The fact is that there is no such thing as Islamism, and therefore no such distinction can be made between Islam and Islamism, no more than a distinction can be truly made between moderate and radical Muslims.

Fact is, there is ONE religion: Islam. It may be broken down by sect, but not by nature. (With the possible exception of Sufis and the Ahmaddiya movement.) Truth is, Islam is an extreme religion by nature, which leaves little room for interpretation and/or evolution. The reason for this is clear: The Koran is to be taken literally, since the words contained therein are believed to be the literal words of Allah. Therefore, by definition, anyone who says anything against the Koran risks being branded a heretic. For, after all is said and done, who can question Allah’s words or judgement?

Fundamentalists, radical Muslims, Islamists, call them what you will, are simply people who wish to abide by Allah’s words. They are true to their faith. They have not gone astray, as they keep on telling us. And they have not bastardized their faith either, as so many wimps in the political class keep on telling us. They are the TRUE believers. They are doing Allah’s work! Now that sounds uncomfortable; but it is a fact. You won’t get Muslims making the distinction between Islam and Islamism. This is the distinction made by the infidel for the infidel. It serves the needs of the political class.

By extension, there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim who lives by the Koran. The “moderate Muslim” that our politicians keep going on about are the Muslims who are lukewarm about their faith. They are like the Christians who are nominal, the ones who call themselves Christian, but don’t live by Christian tenets. (All religions have such ‘adherents’.)

I have worked and lived with very many Muslims. Most of them have truly been very nice, kind people, who would go to the ends of the earth to help one. But the fact remains that there is no telling when a perfectly moderate member of that faith group will start to morph into something rather more fundamentalist. I have observed that it often happens when they already have sown their wild oats. Then they’ve had enough, and start reading the Koran. The more they read the Koran, the more fundamentalist they become. And as God is my witness, one starts to observe the transformation before one’s very eyes!

One of the probems we have in this country with all the Muslims amongst us is that there is no telling when this transformation is going to happen. It cannot easily be foretold; and when it does happen, what are we able to do about it?

Our politicians have brought upon us a very difficult problem to solve. A problem that can only truly be solved by draconian measures, which no politician has the stomach for, and probably most of the electorate couldn’t stomach the necessary measures anyway. Fact is, politicians since the Second World War have done the indigenous population of these islands down. They stand accused of short-termism. They have served the needs of big business, and they have served their own needs, and into the bargain, they have paid scant regard for the wishes of the electorate or the future of our Judeo-Christian civilisation. Fie on them all!

Regarding Baroness Warsi’s speech on Islamophobia, I have the following to say…

She has no right lecturing us on what we should talk about at dinner parties, or elsewhere. Why is she a baroness anyway? I think we all know the answer to that question. But really, what is a phobia anyway? A phobia is an irrational fear of something. Whatever can be irrational about fearing Islam? The socio-political system, clothed as it is in a deity, preaches hatred of the other, the infidel. It preaches hatred of homosexuals, and calls for them to be killed. Apostates are killed too. Women are treated as second-class citizens. They are often little more than procreation machines! Islam is supremacist at its core. Its adherents practise female genital mutilation. There are so many cases of enforced marriages that should make any young Muslimah fearful. And then there are the honour killings. Oh, dear, one could go on and on. Muslims, by the way, also take over wherever they are allowed to put down roots. They snuff out the indigenous culture – always. The process has only once ever been reversed. That was in Moorish Spain. It took 500 bloody years to reverse the process of Islamisation! Do we want this future for ourselves?

Islamophobic? By God, one would have to be Islamofoolish not to be Islamophobic! – © Mark

This comment also appears here

Islamophobia Is the Moral Blind Spot of Modern Britain
THE GUARDIAN: The dinner party bigot's attack on Islam as a creed can all too easily become an excuse for an attack upon an ethnic group

No one actually comes out and directly says "I hate Muslims" – at least, not on the liberal dinner party circuit that was the target of Lady Warsi's speech. Conversations generally begin with the sort of anxieties that many of us might reasonably share: it cannot be right for women to be denied access to education in some Islamic regimes; the use of the death penalty for apostasy is totally unacceptable; what about the treatment of homosexuals? The conversation then moves on to sharia law or jihad or the burqa, not all of it entirely well informed. Someone places their hands across their face and peers out between their fingers. Another guest giggles slightly. Someone inevitably mentions 9/11. Later, guests travel home on the tube and look nervously at the man in the beard sitting opposite.

The problem Warsi identifies is the problem of slippage. What can begin as a perfectly legitimate conversation about, say, religious belief and human rights, can drift into a licence for observations that in any other circumstance would be regarded as tantamount to racism. Like the 19th-century link between anti-Catholicism and racism towards the Irish, one can easily bleed into the other.

"I treat the Islamic religion with the same respect as the bubble-gum I scrape off my shoe," suggested one contributor to the website of the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, in response to Warsi's speech. Another offered the following charming observation: "I don't care what the good or bad Baroness has to say about anything at all. I give her no credence nor voice. She is a person of faith so in my book a skinwaste." I cannot think of a single other group in our society about whom such vile remarks would be in any way socially acceptable. And OK, these are comments whose surface grammar is about Islam and religion. Nonetheless, the level of invective is very obviously personal. Read on and comment >>> Giles Fraser | Saturday, January 22, 2011

Baroness Warsi spoke twaddle in Leicester; Giles Fraser has written twaddle here!
This article confuses the issue. Islam is a socio-political ideology clothed in a deity; and a very dangerous ideology at that! Wherever it has been allowed to take root, it has eventually snuffed out the host culture. And only in Moorish Spain has the process ever been reversed, and that reversal took 500 years of bloody conflict. Now the Spaniards, under the misguided leadership of Zapatero, is busy Islamising the country again. People seem to be incapable of learning from history!

As for the phenomenon of "Islamophobia", I can say only this: a phobia is an irrational fear or aversion to something. What on earth can be irrational about fearing Islam? It preaches hatred of the other. It kills apostates. It kills homosexuals. It treats women as second-class citizens. It is supremacist. Its adherents practise female genital mutilation. They also engage in honour killings. Must I go on?

Get with the story, Mr. Fraser. You must be living on another planet to hold such a viewpoint so reminiscent of Pollyanna's! – © Mark

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Sayeeda's "Islamophobia": Murray & Hussain

MELANIE PHILLIPS: And Now, What She [Baroness Warsi] Actually Said...
THE SPECTATOR: Here is the text of the speech that Baroness Warsi actually delivered. Lots of gracious references to Christians and Jews -- but also note the disreputable suggestion that certain Old Testament passages provide excuses for stoning people to death for adultery and the like.

The fact is, however, that unlike Islam Judaism has always mediated such passages through rabbinic interpretation, with the result that such activities have not been tolerated. Jews pose no threat to anyone -- other than those who try to wipe them out. The sly insinuation that Islam is inherently no more dangerous to life, liberty and human rights than is Judaism is quite wickedly false -- and all too telling. >>> Melanie Phillips | Friday, January 21, 2011

Tory Chief Baroness Warsi Attacks 'Bigotry' Against Muslims
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Prejudice against Muslims has become widespread and socially acceptable in Britain, the Conservative chairman will claim.

Baroness Warsi will warn against trying to divide Muslims into 'moderates' and 'extremists' saying that it simply fosters intolerance. Photo: The Daily Telegraph
Islamophobia has “passed the dinner-table test” and is seen by many as normal and uncontroversial, Baroness Warsi will say in a speech on Thursday.

The minister without portfolio will also warn that describing Muslims as either “moderate” or “extremist” fosters growing prejudice.

Lady Warsi, the first Muslim woman to attend Cabinet, has pledged to use her position to wage an “ongoing battle against bigotry”.

Her comments are the most high-profile intervention in Britain’s religious debate by any member of David Cameron’s government.

They also confirm the Coalition’s determination to depart from its Labour predecessor’s policy of keeping out of issues of faith.

Lady Warsi will use a speech at the University of Leicester to attack what she sees as growing religious intolerance in the country, especially towards followers of Islam. >>> James Kirkup, Political Correspondent | Wednesday, January 19, 2011

So what does this stupid woman expect us to feel about Muslims after 9/11, and all the other attacks on Western civilization? Is this the best that the Conservative Party can now kick up? Is this really the voice of Conservatism in Britain today?

Muslims have attacked Western civilization at each and every turn. So what else does this benighted woman expect the British to feel about her so-called religion. (I would call it a socio-political system clothed in a deity, but that’s for another day.) If Baroness Warsi really expects people to be less Islamophobic, it is my opinion that she should start to do hard work on her own Muslim community first, in order to make her Muslim brothers and sisters less xenophobic, more community-cohesive, and further, she should exhort them to stop being so supremacist, to stop them wanting to take over Western civilization and turn it into an Islamic civilization (if that word isn’t a contradiction in terms).

If Islamophobia exists at all, then it is because Christophobia by Muslims exists (witness what happened in Alexandria at Christmas). It exists because it is so clear to non-Muslims (or so-called “infidels”) that Muslims want desperately not to integrate and wish desperately to replace Western civilization and the rule of law with Islamic ‘civilization’ and sharia law. In short, Muslims want to establish the caliphate. Little wonder that Westerners are “Islamophobic”, if indeed they are! – © Mark

Baroness Warsi Told by David Cameron Not to Appear at Islamic Conference
THE OBSERVER: Conservative leader's stance exposes coalition government differences on tackling Islamist extremists

The Conservative party chair[woman], Baroness Warsi, has been banned by David Cameron from attending a major Islamic conference today, igniting a bitter internal row over how the government tackles Islamist extremism.

Warsi, Britain's first female Muslim cabinet minister, was told by the prime minister to cancel her appearance at the Global Peace and Unity Event, which is being billed as the largest multicultural gathering in Europe.

The London-based conference is aimed at improving community relations, yet critics have pointed out that a number of speakers who are due to appear have justified suicide attacks and promoted al-Qaida, homophobia and terrorism.

An influential voice among the international Muslim community, Warsi believes that confronting extremists at public events is a more effective way to tackle fundamentalism than a refusal to engage with them. A Whitehall source said: "She had hoped to attend, but there is a conflict of opinion on how extremists should be dealt with and the prime minister, supported by Theresa May [the home secretary], were adamant no Tories should attend."

Paul Goodman, the former Tory communities minister, said: "The aim of the organisers is to exploit politicians by using their presence to gain muscle, influence and credibility among British Muslims. Politicians shouldn't play their game." >>> Mark Townsend, home affairs editor | Sunday, October 24, 2010

Top Muslimah Says Coalition Will Restore Faith to Heart of Britain! Big Question Is: Which Faith?
THE TELEGRAPH: Religion will play a crucial role in Coalition policy and should remain at the "heart of society", a senior Tory minister pledged ahead of the Pope's historic visit to Britain.

Baroness Warsi, the Conservative Party chairman, said that the new Government "understands" faith and wanted religious groups to play a greater and more prominent role in Britain, including the provision of public services.

She attacked the previous government for seeking to undermine "the positive power of faith", saying that the Coalition "does God" – a reference to the remark by Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's former spin doctor, who boasted that New Labour did not "do God".

Pope Benedict XVI's four-day tour – the first state papal visit to Britain following the pastoral trip made by John Paul II in 1982 – will begin today in Edinburgh. He will then travel to London where he is expected to urge MPs and peers to show more respect to believers in a key speech in Parliament tomorrow. He is due to meet the Prime Minister privately on Saturday and speak alongside him at Birmingham Airport before his departure on Sunday.

Controversial comments from a senior Vatican figure threatened to overshadow the visit last night. Cardinal Walter Kasper, who has been in charge of promoting Christian unity for the past decade, said that Britain resembled a "Third World country" and was characterised by a "new and aggressive atheism".

Ahead of the Pope's arrival, ministers have sought to stress their religious credentials. David Cameron said earlier this week that the visit provided a "unique opportunity" to celebrate the work of religious groups.

In a speech to Church of England bishops in Oxford, Lady Warsi said that the Coalition was on the side of religion.

The minister without portfolio, the first Muslim woman to serve in the Cabinet, said: "The fact is that our world is more religious than ever. Faith is here to stay. It is part of the fabric of human experience. And in Britain faith is very much alive and kicking."

She added that Britain needed a government that "understands faith, which is comfortable with faith, and which, when necessary, is prepared to speak out about issues of faith". Coalition: 'We will restore faith to heart of Britain’ >>> Robert Winnett and Martin Beckford | Wednesday, Septemebr 15, 2010

Oh Christ! We really do have problems when the most senior Muslimah in the Conservative Party, nay government, starts spouting forth that faith is to be restored to the heart of British society and politics! Is this what David Cameron meant when he spoke of the “Big Society”?

If by “restoring faith” she means restoring the Christian faith, she may have a point. But if she means restoring faith in society, and intending that faith to be Islam, I have a great problem with that statement. She can stuff her Islam! I don’t want amputations for theft in this country, nor stonings to death for adultery, nor beheadings for capital criminals. All those barbaric punishments belong in the sandy regions, in the desert, the home of Islam. – © Mark

Baroness Warsi Is Just Plain WRONG!
MAIL ONLINE: Wearing a burka does not prevent Muslim women ‘engaging in everyday life’ in Britain, the Conservative Party chairman Sayeeda Warsi claimed today.

In comments that will reignite the row about the full face veil, Baroness Warsi defended the right of Muslim women to ‘choose’ to wear the burka.

Backbench Tory MPs have launched a bid to ban the wearing of the burka in public.

Critics claim the burka is a symbol of oppression, with some Muslim women ordered to wear the full face veil by their husbands.

But Lady Warsi, the first Muslim woman to serve in the Cabinet, yesterday launched a passionate defence of the burka. She suggested that many Muslim women choose to wear the veil of their own free will.

Lady Warsi, who was named last year as Britain’s most powerful Muslim woman, said: ‘Just because a woman wears the burka, it doesn’t mean she can’t engage in everyday life.

‘Why should we tell women what to wear? What it boils down to is choice. If women don’t have a choice over what to wear then they are oppressed.

‘But if a woman has a choice, and she chooses to wear whatever she chooses to wear then she’s not oppressed is she? She’s choosing what she wants.’

Critics claim that the burka alienates Muslim women from the rest of society. But Lady Warsi said the burka did not act as a barrier in itself.

She added: ‘There are women who wear the burka who run extremely successful businesses – internet businesses, which don’t actually require you to be there face to face.’

Lady Warsi’s intervention is the latest bid by the coalition Government to close down debate about the burka. Tory party chairman says Muslim women SHOULD be allowed to wear the Burka >>> Jason Groves | Monday, August 02, 2010

Egg-throwing Extremist Who Shouted 'Cameron's Bitch' at Muslim Tory Minister Is Jailed
MAIL ONLINE: A Muslim convert who pelted a Tory peer with eggs was jailed for six weeks yesterday.

Gavin Reid, 23, targeted Baroness Warsi as Islamic extremists shouted abuse at her, including 'Cameron's bitch', in a 'planned and deliberate' confrontation.

At least three eggs were hurled at the high-profile champion of Muslim women's rights, one of which broke on her face, soiling her hair and jacket.

At the time of the attack last November, Baroness Warsi - now chairman of the Conservative Party and one of David Cameron's rising stars - was on a visit to Luton with a Tory election candidate.

The group of ten protesters shouted abuse in English and Urdu at the Dewsbury-born former solicitor, accusing her of not being a proper Muslim and supporting the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan. They also demanded the introduction of Sharia law, the Islamic code of conduct, in Britain.

Former removals man Reid, of Luton, was found guilty of an offence under the Public Order Act yesterday at City of Westminster Magistrates Court in London.

Sentencing, District Judge Elizabeth-Roscoe said: 'Throwing eggs goes beyond legitimate political protest and is quite clearly disorderly behaviour, and it is also threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour.' >>> David Wilkes | Thursday, July 29, 2010

Baroness Warsi Gets Heroine's Welcome in Pakistan
THE TELEGRAPH: Baroness Warsi, Britain's first Muslim cabinet minister, has returned to her Pakistani roots to be feted as a heroine in her grandmother's village.

Baroness Warsi, Britain's first Muslim cabinet minister. Photo: The Telegraph
More than 2,000 people cheered and threw fragrant rose petals in the air – not the sort of reception usually afforded the chairman of the British Conservative Party ­– as she addressed them deep in rural Punjab.

"My grandmother, she was living in this village of Bewal and no one thought that her granddaughter would ever be a minister in the United Kingdom," she said in Urdu, to cries of "zindabad", which means live-long.

Her father left Pakistan in 1960, arriving in Britain with only £2 in his pocket.

He went from working in a mill to running a bed manufacturing business with a turnover of £2m, providing the inspiration for Baroness Warsi's Conservative politics.

Her appointment to the cabinet in May attracted banner headlines in Pakistan, where people are enthralled by her family's immigrant-to-minister story. >>> Rob Crilly in Bewal | Monday, July 19, 2010

Sayeeda Warsi Slammed by Islamic Fundamentalists
DAILY STAR SUNDAY: NEW Tory chairman Sayeeda Warsi has been slammed by Islamic fundamentalists who warned she could be in physical danger if she visits Muslim communities.

The 39-year-old baroness is the first female Muslim to be given a full Cabinet position.

But controversial preacher Anjem Choudary accused her of “betraying” her religion.

He told the Daily Star Sunday: “Sayeeda Warsi is not a Muslim in my eyes.

“She may look like a Muslim and have a Muslim-sounding name but she does not ­represent Islam or anyone in this country who is a Muslim.

“She is a ‘coconut’, brown on the outside but white on the inside.

“In fact, she is whiter than most of the other white people in government.

“How can she be a Muslim and support the military involvement of the British Army in Islamic countries?

“She is somebody who ­pretends to be a practising Muslim but, from her views and statements, she is clearly against Sharia.

“She is a disgrace and many true Muslims are angry that she claims to stand for Islam despite betraying Allah.”

Choudary – whose group Islam4UK was banned by the last government – predicted that Baroness Warsi would become the focus of hate.

He said: “She will be attacked by eggs every time she goes near a Muslim community.

“Some more extreme protesters may take the attacks further. There is no doubt she is in danger.” >>> John Ward | Sunday, May 16, 2010

First Muslim Woman Brit Minister Accused of Betraying Her Religion
ONE INDIA: London – Baroness and Tory leader Sayeeda Warsi may be the first Muslim woman to hold a full Cabinet Post, but Muslim fundamentalists see her as an apostate who is hardly representative of the Muslim community.

She has also been warned of physical harm if she visits Muslim pockets. Last year she was pelted with eggs by Muslim protesters when she visited Luton, Bedfordshire.

Anjem Choudhary, a firebrand radical preacher whose group Islam4UK was banned by the last government accuses her of betraying her religion by supporting the British Army's involvement in Islamic countries. >>> ANI | Sunday, May 16, 2010

Saeeda Hussain Warsi

Baroness Warsi Becomes New Conservative Party Chairman
BBC: Baroness Warsi has been named as chairman of the Conservative Party, as party leader David Cameron continues to choose members of his new government.

She replaces Eric Pickles, who becomes communities secretary.

Baroness Warsi, who was shadow minister for community cohesion when the Tories were in opposition, is the first Muslim woman to serve in a British cabinet.

A former solicitor, she was a vice-chairman of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2007. [Source: BBC] | Wednesday, May 12, 2010

PINK NEWS: Peer who said schools 'promote homosexuality' becomes first female Muslim cabinet member >>> PinkNews.co.uk Staff Writer | Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Leading Conservative Claims Muslim Politicians Lack 'Principles'
THE TELEGRAPH: Baroness Warsi under fire for comments made at dinner in honour of the visiting president of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir

A leading member of the Conservative shadow cabinet has argued against more Muslims going into Parliament because they lack "principles", a video obtained by The Independent reveals.

Baroness Warsi, the party's spokeswoman for community cohesion, was recorded saying that she did not want to see more Muslim MPs or Muslim Lords because "Muslims that go to Parliament don't have 'asool'". Asool is Urdu for "morals" or "principles".

A Conservative spokesperson said her remarks were take out of context. They said the word "asool" should have been translated as "Muslim principles" and wasn’t intended to imply that Muslim parliamentarians were immoral.

They also acknowledged that "this may not have been the best way of making her point" but insisted that she had been taken out of context.

"She was saying you shouldn't vote for a Muslim MP on the basis of their Muslim principle, you should vote for an MP based on their ability to represent the community regardless of their ethnic tick box." >>> Billy Kenber | Thursday, May 06, 2010

Baroness Warsi Is Confronted by the Real Islam in Luton
THE TELEGRAPH: Conservative Muslim Peer Baroness Warsi of Dewsbury has criticised a group of Islamic extremists who pelted her with eggs and shouted abuse at her during a visit in Luton.

Baroness Warsi was attacked as she was visiting local shops in Luton. Photograph: Mail Online
The shadow minister for community cohesion and social action had been meeting local businesses with Tory candidates when she was attacked just before 5pm on Monday.

Up to 10 local British male protesters, believed to be members of the controversial Al Muhajiroun group, started shouting abuse at the Peer, accusing her of not being a proper Muslim and supporting the deaths of Muslims in Afghanistan.

Members of the group then threw several eggs at her, with one hitting her on the side of the head and another soiling her jacket.

Baroness Warsi, the country's most powerful female Mulsims [sic], was not injured during the attack in the city's Bury Park area.

Amid concerns for her safety, witnesses said Baroness Warsi refused to run from the group, but instead started remonstrating with them, later branding them "extremists" who did not represent the views of British Muslims.

She later retreated into a sari shop.

Despite police being called, no one was arrested for the attack which was universally condemned by locals.

Brushing off the incident last night, the Tory Peer later addressed a local meeting, where she branded the group "idiots and vile" who did not represent Muslim views and were "clearly repulsed with me".

She said they were similar to Nick Griffin, the British National Party leader, who only wanted to divide society and preach hatred. Islamic Extremists Pelt Eggs at Muslim Baroness Warsi During Luton Protest >>> Andrew Hough | Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Baroness Warsi Pelted with Eggs by Muslims
TIMES ONLINE: The most senior Muslim politician in Britain was pelted with eggs yesterday and accused of supporting the death of Muslims in Afghanistan. Baroness Warsi, Shadow Minister for community cohesion and social action, was attacked by a group of Muslim men during a visit to Luton, the scene of race riots this year.

She was mobbed as she walked down Dunstable Road and a group started screaming abuse at her. “They were saying something about her not being a proper Muslim,” a spokesman said. “But rather than run off, she stood her ground and said ‘Let’s have a proper debate, let’s have an argument.’ They just carried on screaming and shouting.”

One egg hit her and soiled her jacket but her spokesman said she was not shaken. She was taken to a nearby shop and the visit continued with police protection.

Lady Warsi said afterwards: “These men are a bunch of idiots who do not represent the wider Muslim community. I stood up to them and challenged them to a proper debate, but they weren’t prepared to listen.” >>> Sam Coates, Chief Political Correspondent | Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Watch BBC video: Tory Muslim Peer Baroness Warsi Pelted with Eggs >>>| Monday, November 30, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: Muslim protesters pelt Tory peer Baroness Warsi with eggs during walkabout in Luton >>> Daily Mail Reporter | Tuesday, December 02, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: Face to Face with the Men of Hate: The Muslim Fanatics Who Attacked Baroness Warsi >>> Sue Reid | Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Muslim Peer Claims Politicians Are Scared* of Discussing Polygamy
THE TELEGRAPH: Politicians are too scared to discuss multiple marriages in case they offend Muslims, shadow minister for Community Cohesion Baroness Warsi has claimed.

Baroness Warsi wishes that all marriages be registered, as civil ceremonies are, in order to put a stop to polygaamous marriages in the UK. It is believed that polygamous marriages are on the increase in the UK. Photo of Baroness Warsi courtesy of The Telegraph
The Muslim peer blamed "cultural sensitivity" for the failure to tackle the problem of polygamy.

She wants the Government to consider ordering that all religious marriages must be registered, as civil ceremonies are, in order to stop men marrying more than one wife.

More than 1,000 British men are thought to have more than one wife.

Although bigamy is illegal in the UK, those who have moved here after marrying more than one woman in Islamic countries are allowed to remain in polygamous partnerships – and can even claim benefits for their additional spouses.

Lady Warsi, the shadow minister for community cohesion, told the BBC: "There has been a failure on the part of policymakers to respond to this situation.

"Some of it has been done in the name of cultural sensitivity and we've just avoided either discussing or dealing with this matter head-on.

"There has to be a culture change and that has to brought about by policymakers taking a very clear stance on this issue, saying that in this country, one married man is allowed to marry one woman." >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Saturday, February 21, 2009

*We are being ‘led’ by a pack of wimps! – Mark

THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Polygamy Claimants Keep the Money

Ministers decided not to force through plans to cut benefits to hundreds of polygamous families in the UK after officials advised that the move would be too politically sensitive.

Internal documents obtained by The Independent on Sunday reveal that ministers from four departments ordered an “urgent review” of the position of up to 1,000 men with “multiple wives”, amid complaints that they were claiming millions in benefits.

However, the Government decided against altering the status of polygamous families after it was warned that it could contravene human rights legislation – and officials assured that the benefits system was geared to ensure there was “no financial advantage to claiming for those in polygamous marriages”.

Details of the response to the complaints came after the Tory frontbencher Baroness Warsi accused politicians of failing to deal with the issue because of “cultural sensitivity”. The Muslim peer urged the Government to consider the mandatory registration of all religious marriages to stop men in Britain from marrying more than one woman.

Four departments embarked on the review in 2006 following a parliamentary question on the benefits payable to polygamous families. Ministers were told that, before 1988, benefit was paid to anyone who could establish they were in polygamous relationships, but “this was narrowed to polygamous marriage following press interest in people in hippie communes living off the state”.

Britain recognises polygamous marriages from countries where such unions are legal, although a man is prevented from bringing another wife into this country if a woman is already living as his wife in the UK. [Source: The Independent on Sunday] By Brian Brady, Whitehall Editor | Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) – Free delivery >>>

Target: Muslims; Forced Integration!
THE NATIONAL (UAE): LONDON - Muslim communities in Britain would be forced to integrate into UK society as a whole under a future Conservative government, the party has been told.

Plans to force all immigrants to speak English and to ban any place for sharia in the British legal system have been outlined at the annual conference of the Conservative Party, the country’s main opposition party.

The party, which has seen its lead over the Labour government in opinion polls cut to 12 points from 21 points in the past month, signalled an end to the policy of multiculturalism, which has encouraged different groups to retain their own religious and ethnic identities.

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the Conservative shadow minister for community cohesion and social action, attacked what she called a “decade of state-driven multiculturalism” under Labour.

Mrs Warsi, a Muslim, said at the conference, which opened in Birmingham on Sunday, the policy had played on people’s differences and had created cultural divisions at the expense of shared British values.

“It has sent out the message that we’re not sharing a society, we’re just cohabiting a space,” she said. “It has led people to retreat into separate cultures rather than reach for a shared community.”

Additionally, she said it had created an “obsession with self-appointed community leaders, and a crude use of patronage politics has led to communities divided against each other, with people losing that inner instinct of what it is to be British”.

A future Conservative government would make integration and neighbourliness central to the party’s policy-making with everyone in Britain being obliged to speak English and with British history being taught “so young people know who we are as a nation”. She added: “Good neighbours look out for each other. That’s why we will tackle unacceptable cultural practices, not turn our backs and say it’s sensitive and none of our business.”

In a separate speech, Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, a shadow minister for security, said a future Tory government would “force Muslims to integrate into British society”. Forced Social Integration Plan Targets Muslims >>> David Sapsted, Foreign Correspondent | September 29, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>

Baroness Warsi Calls for Forced Marriages to Be Criminalized
Photo of Baroness Warsi courtesy of Google Images
DAILY EXPRESS: Forced marriages are not a culturally sensitive issue but an abhorrent act, a Tory Muslim peer has said.

Baroness Warsi, shadow minister for community cohesion and social action, has called for such marriages to be treated as crimes to send a clear signal that they are intolerable. 



She said the same arguments had been previously used to tackle domestic violence.



Speaking on GMTV programme, she said that society had realised that domestic violence was not a taboo subject and that what was needed now was for the state to step in to give protection against forced marriages. "As a society we draw a line in the sand," she said. Action on Forced Marriages Urged >>>

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Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Muslim Peers Visit Gillian Gibbons
Photos of Baroness Warsi amd Lord Ahmed courtesy of the BBC
Whilst I appreciate the efforts made by these peers to bring about the release of Gillian Gibbons, I would like to ask the following question: What on earth could these two young peers have done to deserve the titles ‘baron’ and ‘baroness’? Mrs Thatcher had to work all her life to become ‘Baroness Thatcher’, and even spend years in No. 10, cleaning up Britain. How do these youngsters compare? Or is this political correctness talking again? I should lke to add that it seems infinitely easier these days to get a title if one is an immigrant than if one is a member of the indigenous population of centuries’ standing! Further, does being a ‘lord’, ‘lady’, ‘baron’ or ‘baroness’ mean anything anymore?

BBC: Two British Muslim peers have met the UK teacher jailed for 15 days in Sudan for insulting Islam by allowing her class to name a teddy bear Muhammad.

Labour's Lord Ahmed and Tory Baroness Warsi reported that Gillian Gibbons, 54, of Liverpool, was comfortable and safe in a secret location in Khartoum.

Lord Ahmed said they had met Sudanese ministers and advisers and hope to meet the president in the next 24 hours.
Mrs Gibbons's defence team is confident she will be pardoned by the president. UK peers visit teddy row teacher >>>

WATCH BBC VIDEO:
Peers attempt to free teacher

Mark Alexander