"Watch your language" - Paul warns Prime Minister!

Rochdale MP - Paul Rowen has warned Government Ministers, including Tony Blair to "watch their language" after Prime Minister Tony Blair was criticised for playing an "unhelpful blame game." The warning follows the Prime Minister's Statement last week that: "it was important for moderate Muslim leaders to help combat a "completely false sense of grievance against the West". The Rochdale MP has spoken out after complaints by Muslim Constituents of "feeling alienated by this Government."

Paul Rowen took the opportunity to question Home Secretary - John Reid MP in Parliament this week. Paul asked Mr Reid - "Does the Home Secretary accept that some of the statements from Ministers, including the Prime Minister, over the last year have served only to heighten the alienation? What does he propose to do to re-engage the majority moderate members of the Muslim community who, like everyone else, want to get rid of terrorism?" Mr Reid responded:

"No, I do not accept that in respect of the Prime Minister and I would say to the hon. Gentleman that engagement does not mean patronising. The vast majority of Muslims in this country-just the same as everyone else-want to live in a free, decent society where their children do better than they did. They value the freedoms that we protect here and they find terrorism abhorrent. When we engage with people in that community who may not be part of that mainstream, we should be not just engaging them but prepared to enter into discussion and, if necessary, debate with them over values. A values-based discussion will sometimes lead us into debate, which I believe is a good, not a bad thing."

Paul said, "I was justifiably concerned by the Prime Minister's Comments - it is quite clear that members of the Muslim Community do not feel listened to. Irresponsible, ill statements by the Prime Minister and other Ministers can only add to this anxiety. In the past few years many innocent Muslim people have felt completely disenfranchised by this Labour Government. It is action... not words that are needed.

"It is well over a year since Hazel Blears MP's comments about the Muslim Community having to accept being stopped and searched more often than the rest of our community. The Muslim community feel alienated by this and many Government initiative such as House Arrests, detention without trial, ID Cards and of course the illegal, disgraceful war in Iraq. These recent comments by the Prime Minister show that the Government have learnt nothing. The overwhelming majority of the Muslim are against everything that terrorism stands for and Blair's comments suggest that there needs to be a programme of pro-actively listening to the Muslim Community. They claim to be listening and not patronising but if they continue to pass laws that alienate the Muslim Community they will get nowhere."

TRANSCRIPT OF QUESTION (IN CONTEXT)

Mr. David Heathcoat-Amory (Wells) (Con): The Home Secretary is right to tell us that the majority of Muslims here wish only to live peacefully and do not support terrorism in any form, but is he worried about the result of a recent public opinion poll, which indicated that 13 per cent. of British Muslims view last year's suicide bombers in London as martyrs rather than criminals? Will he work more closely with moderate Muslim leaders here explicitly to condemn such attitudes and to support and work for the concept of a separation between allegiance to a state and allegiance to a religion-a concept that is rare in the Muslim world, but not unique, as shown by the good example of Turkey?

John Reid: Yes, I think everyone would be worried about the percentage that the right hon. Gentleman mentioned. On the other hand, we should not assume that general sentiments expressed in an opinion poll are

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an indication that people wish that they were engaged in such terrorist activity. It is not unknown in respect of past terrorist acts that the allegiance of young people-whether it be here, in Northern Ireland, Spain or Italy-can sometimes be attached in theory to something that they would never support in practice. We should not underestimate the problem and we cannot be complacent, but we should not brand large sections of the Muslim community as inveterately committed in that direction. I think that that would be wrong. As I said earlier, the dividing line is not between Muslim and non-Muslim, but between evil terrorism and those of us who hold a set of values in common throughout all religions and all civilisations. I merely point out the fact that many of the victims of these terrorist acts-not only in London and New York, but in Saudi Arabia, Amman, Turkey, which the right hon. Gentleman mentioned, Egypt or in many other areas where terrorists are inflicting their ills on societies, including Afghanistan and Iraq-are themselves Muslims. Not only that, but many victims are often women and children as well as men, so we are all at threat. Terrorism threatens us all and only by a united response will we ultimately defeat it.

Paul Rowen (Rochdale) (LD): Following on from that, does the Home Secretary accept that some of the statements from Ministers, including the Prime Minister, over the last year have served only to heighten the alienation? What does he propose to do to re-engage the majority moderate members of the Muslim community who, like everyone else, want to get rid of terrorism?

John Reid: No, I do not accept that in respect of the Prime Minister and I would say to the hon. Gentleman that engagement does not mean patronising. The vast majority of Muslims in this country-just the same as everyone else-want to live in a free, decent society where their children do better than they did. They value the freedoms that we protect here and they find terrorism abhorrent. When we engage with people in that community who may not be part of that mainstream, we should be not just engaging them but prepared to enter into discussion and, if necessary, debate with them over values. A values-based discussion will sometimes lead us into debate, which I believe is a good, not a bad, thing.