David Cameron: Tackling Islamic Extremism
In March, just before the general election, Parliament Street published, ‘A Smart Guide to Government’ and I penned a chapter on ‘Islamic Extremism: The Greatest Threat to Britain’s Future.‘ I made a series of recommendations that I am delighted to see David Cameron announcing today.
At midday, in front of British Muslims in Birmingham, David Cameron made his first major domestic speech on how to tackle Islamist extremism.It is poignant that Cameron chose to give his speech in Birmingham, the place where the schools were infiltrated as part of the Trojan Horse plot.
He described extremism as ‘the struggle of our generation’ and explained that ‘the root cause of the threat we face is the extremist ideology itself’. For many years, myself and many other commentators, political activists and counter-terrorism experts have been recommending and asking for measures that the government can tangibly apply to combat Islamic extremism.
The warning signs have been in Britain for many years and under the guise of free speech and the climate of tolerance we chose to ignore them. In many ways we have been the architects of our own misfortune and have allowed extremism to gain a foothold across our society. We should all embrace what Cameron stated today as it is crucial that we all come together to stand up for our British values of tolerance, freedom and liberalism with confidence and pride.
Clare George-Hilley is Head of Research at Parliament Street and is a Contributing Editor at The Commentator, where she writes about how to tackle Islamic extremism at home and abroad regularly .
