Cameron is wrong to target the Quilliam Foundation

A few weeks ago, the Prime Minister promised a muscular liberalism that would take on the Islamist extremist groups Jack Straw, Ken Livingstone, John Denham and other frightened or simply ugly and unprincipled Labour politicians had funded.

“Let’s properly judge these organisations: Do they believe in universal human rights – including for women and people of other faiths? Do they believe in equality of all before the law? Do they believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own government? Do they encourage integration or separatism?”

Little did his admirers realise at the time that his first target would be the Quilliam Foundation, which the religious far right loathes because it does believe in universal values, women’s rights, democracy and integration. Even cynics, such as your correspondent, assumed that Mr Cameron would have known that it would be good for him, British Islam and the wider liberal culture if Quilliam flourished.