Liam Fox is absolutely right that people should 'drown out' the extremist voices that we heard at the Luton parade this week. 'For once,' he says 'the silent majority needs to get off the sofa and make its voice heard.'
And I'm sure that, in that, he includes all parts of our population. Indeed, wouldn't the Luton parade have been the perfect chance for moderate muslims to have joined their voices with those of the rest of the hundreds of people on the route?
Jonathan Isaby today congratulates Sayeeda Warsi on her 'impressive' performance on Question time last night. On the programme she said that 20,000 leaflets had gone out asking for there to be a protest against the homecoming troops (who sent these leaflets out? who paid for them?) She concluded triumphantly that, as only about twenty turned up, this was proof of how moderate muslim opinion rejected the extremism of a tiny faction and was as proud of our troops as anyone else.
She rather went for Charles Moore, who was daring to suggest that extremism in one form or another was perhaps a little more widespread than perhaps she was allowing. He mentioned the various bodies which are listened to, and get money from, the government. Warsi was having none of it.
But I would ask the Baroness, why were there no Muslim voices in that crowd angrily denouncing the protesters? Why did there appear to be virtually no Muslims amongst the crowds lining the pavement? Why is there no 'Not in Our Name' campaign by moderate Muslims? These are the questions to which we need answers.
