Where is the Divide? Cameron Seems to Know

Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 16:05:33 +0000

BY ALEXANDER MELEAGROU-HITCHENS

In last week's issue of the Spectator, Peter Oborne threw his weight behind a faction within the coalition government, headed by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, who are urging David Cameron and some of his closest allies to reassess their current stance on the role Islamist groups should play both in the direction of British Islam and in the government's counter-radicalisation efforts. He believes that Cameron's neoconservative cabal in Whitehall has fundamentally misunderstood what constitutes extremist Islam, and is mistaken in its rejection of a wide array of British Islamist organisations. Instead, he thinks Cameron and his allies must understand that non-violent Islamist groups can act as a useful bulwark against violent extremism. As well as being flawed, his argument also reveals a surprisingly low opinion of Britain's Muslims.

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Where is the Divide? Cameron Seems to Know