I have just returned from Birmingham. Julia Manning and Tim Montgomerie have said it all about David Cameron's speech, and I cannot add anything except agree entirely with them. I am so excited about the future, whilst of course sharing the deep concerns about the country's - and the world's - current challenges. I am excited, because David Cameron has indeed shown that he has the character, leadership, and humanity to be Prime Minister. His words about social justice were especially moving.
But since Julia and Tim have so eloquently summed up David Cameron's speech, I want to highlight another speech today which gave me great confidence in our party: the speech delivered this morning by Pauline Neville-Jones. While her delivery was not outstanding, it was the content of the speech that mattered. Her clear, unambiguous recognition that the fight againt terrorism is a fight for our way of life against an ideology, radical political Islamism, that is intent on undermining and destroying our values. The following extracts are especially important:
we must crack down on those who finance terrorism and radicalise individuals.
Did you know it is legal to recruit and raise funds here for that well-known terrorist organisation, Hizbullah?
We will end this; ostensible charities used as fronts for terrorism must be closed down.
We will ban Hizb-ut-Tahrir – which has just called for American soldiers in the Gulf to be killed.
The leadership of organisations like Tablighi Jamaat
…where the 7/7 bombers and liquid bomb plotters were radicalised…
must take responsibility for what happens under their roof. We will ensure they do.
And the next bit is absolutely spot-on:
Extremists on left and right are a tiny minority. But the damage they do is out of all proportion to their numbers. That’s why the Government is wrong to say that terrorism is not a strategic threat. That it is less threatening than a pandemic. Nonsense. It aims to destroy our values. We must not let it. We must build a strong society.
But under Labour this country has looked the other way. Extremism has grown as different groups have increasingly led separate lives. Conference, multiculturalism is a blind alley. A Conservative Government will not allow our country to be weakened by pursuing it. All of us must make the argument for our shared values.
For our single law that respects the equal rights of all citizens. There will be no separate sharia law here.
For tolerance. A couple of days ago on the BBC Today programme, a man with links to the extremist organisation Al-Mujaharoun said that it was ‘clearly stipulated in Muslim law that any kind of attack on [the Prophet’s] honour carries the death penalty’. Not true. Unacceptable. We all – Muslims and non-Muslims – must actively face down extremists.
Pauline Neville-Jones gets it, it seems. With her, backed up by people like Paul Goodman and Michael Gove, a Conservative government is better-placed to tackle radical Islamism than the current government.
