All belief systems must accept the danger of ridicule and contempt

In the ‘whataboutery’ which now dominates British politics, no mention of Labour anti-Semitism is complete without a counter-accusation of Tory Islamophobia. It swiftly followed the Chief Rabbi’s condemnation of Labour anti-Semitism on Tuesday. There may well be people in the Conservative party who have an irrational hatred of Muslims, but the term ‘Islamophobia’ should be absolutely resisted. Unlike anti-Semitism, this is a concocted concept. A strand of Muslim thought sees all criticism of the prophet Mohammed and his faith as blasphemy and labours worldwide to ban it. Such Muslims are driven mad by the way Jews can cry ‘racism’ when they are attacked, whereas they cannot. But in fact this is fair, because Jewishness is usually inherited and is not necessarily related to what you believe. Islam is. All belief systems must accept the danger of hatred, ridicule and contempt as the price for coexisting in a free society.

An article in the Daily Signal, the online publication of the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC carried a short article this week by an American, James Schmitz, who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy called West syndrome. When working for a thinktank in London, he needed to be able to rely on a neurologist who could intervene at very short notice to save his life. ‘I can recommend a neurologist for you,’ one NHS doctor advised him, but ‘she’s pretty booked up so you won’t see her for at least nine months.’ In the United States, he could always secure the necessary attention in a maximum of two weeks. So he went home. I repeat this story as all the main political parties yet again abase themselves before the altar of the NHS — ‘the envy of the world’.