- The Observer,
- Sunday November 23, 2003
Trevor Phillips said that the comments from Denis MacShane, the Minister for Europe, were ill-informed and could drive young people into the hands of extremists.
David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, also appeared to distance himself from his government colleague when he said that Muslim leaders in Britain had made clear their opposition to terrorism.
In a speech to local Labour Party supporters in Rotherham on Friday night, MacShane said that it was time for British Muslim leaders to use clearer and stronger language against terrorism.
His comments provoked a furious reaction from Muslim leaders, who said that they had condemned terrorism time and again.
'It would have been smarter if Denis MacShane had found out what British Muslims have been saying since, before and after September 11 on the issue of terrorism,' Phillips said.
'Had he taken the trouble to do so, he would have known that his criticisms could not possibly apply to the leadership of mainstream Muslim opinion in Britain.
'This type of language will simply drive Muslims who believe that once again they are being stereotyped into the arms of extremists.
'He could have spoken to David Blunkett and Jack Straw [the Foreign Secretary], both of whom know the British Muslim community quite well, neither of whom would have made these remarks.'
Phillips said that the use of the phrase 'the British way' was offensive.
'On the face of it, it is a little undiplomatic for a Foreign Office Minister to suggest that the British have a monopoly on rational and civilised behaviour.
'Anybody who hails from a colony could adduce several centuries of evidence to the contrary.'
MacShane has told friends that his comments had been blown out of proportion and that he was not talking specifically about British values but about all nations that valued the rule of law and democracy.
Although an early draft of the speech released to the media did use 'the British way' phrase, MacShane later backtracked and added America and Turkey to the list of those countries whose values should be supported. 'I am reassured by the support I have received for what I said from local Muslim politicians,' he said, arguing that a number of local councillors had backed his argument.
He has also told friends that greater effort needed to be made to understand and combat young people who believed that terrorism was a legitimate political tool.
Last week The Observer revealed that a Yemeni-born martial arts expert, Wail al-Dhaleai, from Sheffield, near MacShane's constituency, was suspected of having taken part in a suicide attack against US forces in Iraq.
MacShane said that he had decided to speak out after that revelation.
