Boris Johnson and Emmanuel Macron have more in common than just a desire to ‘get Brexit done’. The pair also recognise the threat posed to the West by Islamic extremism – and the Prime Minister can learn from the growing determination of the French president to stand strong against the hardliners and in defence of mainstream Islam.
Last weekend in Paris an estimated 13,500 people gathered for a ‘Stop Islamophobia’ march, among them Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the left-wing France Insoumise party, Esther Benbassa of the Green Party and Philippe Martinez, head of the CGT union. According to those present at the march, Muslims are uniquely oppressed in France, although government statistics from the Ministry of Interior suggest acts of aggression against Muslims are at their lowest level since records began in 2010. Meanwhile, attacks on Christians and Jews are rising, with anti-Semitism rocketing 74 per cent in the last decade.
To express their outrage, one of the event’s organisers, Marwan Muhammad, led the crowd in a cry of
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