THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Telegraph View: Halting the erosion of freedom may prove just as important a challenge for the Coalition as easing the pain of cuts
The leader of Ukip, Nigel Farage MEP, must have groaned when he learned that the French National Front is now modelling itself on his party. Marine Le Pen, who is poised to take over leadership of the Front National (FN) from her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, describes it as a "patriotic" party that has more in common with Ukip than the BNP. Given the sinister resonances that the words "National Front" have in Britain, Miss Le Pen has presented Ukip's opponents with a seasonal gift. "Ukip – backed by the French National Front" is a rhetorical swipe worthy of David Cameron's description of the party's supporters as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists".
We should not, however, be too quick to dismiss reports that a sanitised Front National has succeeded in reaching out to a new constituency. The FN's selling point is its opposition to the "Islamisation" of French public life – but not, it is careful to add, to Islam itself. Miss Le Pen claims that pork is being taken off the menu in French schools and that state funds are being used to build "ostentatious mosque cathedrals". She may never be elected president, but over a quarter of French voters approve of her; at no point in the history of the Fifth Republic has an aggressive Right-wing party enjoyed such support among the middle classes.
It may seem inconceivable that British politics could move in the same direction. But we should not be too relaxed about the fact that populist Right-wing parties have never broken into the mainstream of our politics. Two points need to be made. Read on and comment >>> Telegraph View | Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Some of us have been highlighting the threat of the growth of Islam in this country in particular and in the West in general for a very long time, but the MSM were not prepared to listen to us. We were labelled by some misinformed people as right-wing extremists.
I, for one, am not extremist in any way; but I have recognized the growing threat of Islam in the West for many long years now. It has been very disheartening at times, when nobody wanted to listen to what one had to say. But now, thankfully, things are changing. You know they are changing when reputable newspapers like The Daily Telegraph are willing to speak out.
One of the problems we have, though, is that in the name of political correctness, we are disinclined to criticize Islam, the religion, and always ascribe anything negative to Islamism. But the harsh reality remains that Islam and Islamism are really one and the same thing: Islamism is really only the radical, extreme interpretation, and orthodox interpretation, of Islam itself. Islamism cannot be tackled without tackling Islam, if for no other reason than a non-radical Muslim can morph into a radical Muslim very easily and very quickly. Further, as there is no centralized authority in Islam, such as the Pope in the Christian Church, authentic Islam can be anyone's interpretation of the religion. This means that tackling this problem is going to be very difficult for anyone. It will take great courage, great understanding, great fortitude, and great insight.
David Cameron is not the man to tackle this problem. He is far too PR-orientated, and far too aware of his own image. I fear that for David Cameron, his approval ratings mean more to him than tackling a difficult challenge such as this. In any case, given his background, I doubt very much that he has a full grasp of the complexities of the problem. What does he really know about Islam or the Middle East? – © Mark
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THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: There is a remarkable statistic in today’s main Daily Telegraph leader [above]:
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life estimates that there are 2,869,000 Muslims in Britain, an increase of 74 per cent on its previous figure of 1,647,000, which was based on the 2001 census. No demographic statistics are reliable in an era of open borders, but such an expansion is unprecedented.The Muslim population has grown from 1.65 million to 2.87 million since 2001, say researchers. What does this mean for liberal Britain? >>> Damian Thompson | Tuesday, December 28, 2010
As people are in the UK today, indeed as people are in the West today – soft – this problem cannot be solved. For this problem can be solved in one way, and in one way only: by means of Draconian measures. Our politicians do not have the stomach for such measures. To start with, our Parliament has become populated by softees who are far more interested in image, sound-bites, and photo-ops than in making hard choices to safeguard our freedoms.
Islam, by contrast, is a macho religion; and its male adherents are inclined to be macho too. They will not easily be frightened off by the pansies that lead us in the West today. This is a situation which calls for the leadership of real men: men who are not intimidated by the prospect of taking tough decisions, and not daunted by the prospect of being unpopular.
Western politicians are given to dividing Islam into two parts: Islam, the religion; and Islamism, the cancer. But the distinction is far from the truth. In reality, it’s a false dichotomy. It is a distinction which serves the purposes of weak politicians; but it is one which any self-respecting Muslim would not recognize. Muslims do not distinguish between Islam and Islamism. To Muslims, Islam is ONE religion. Yes, it has its schisms. Witness the Sunni / Shi’ite schism. But no Muslim would recognize the split that Westerners arbitrarily make of Muslims and Islamists. This is but a dichotomy of convenience for politicians who do not have the stomach to tackle the real issue: the growth of Islam in the West.
Moreover, our problems with Islam cannot be solved by tackling Islamism. Islamism is but the orthodox, fundamentalist version of the faith. It is the version of Islam which devout Muslims believe is the correct way to practise their religion. It is the living out of the fundamental tenets of orthodox Islam. The problems we have with Muslims and Islam in the world today WILL NOT BE SOLVED if we continue with this false dichotomy. In using it, we are just fooling ourselves.
If civil unrest in the UK is to be staved off, and the growth of extreme parties is to be forestalled, this issue will need to be addressed; and it will have to be addressed by courageous and knowledgeable politicians – politicians who understand the nature of Islam and who are willing and able to take the TOUGH decisions which are necessary to SUCCEED. – © Mark
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THE TIMES: Muslim population 'rising 10 times faster than rest of society': The Muslim population in Britain has grown by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million in just four years, according to official research collated for The Times. >>> Richard Kerbaj | Friday, January 30, 2009
