Where Warsi is right and wrong

As ever, the headlines are more sensational than the speech, but marginally so in this case. Baroness Warsi has asserted that Islamophobia is rife and socially acceptable in Britain. It is a peculiarly crass statement for an ordinary politician to have made, but, then again, the gabbing Baroness is a very ordinary politician.

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Gavin Mortimer

When will Britain wake up to the Islamist threat?

Some of her speech is sensible, even unanswerable. She attacks the media and the arts for ‘the patronising, superficial way faith is discussed in certain quarters.’ Questioning faith is the natural and welcome adjunct of a free society, but specific criticism is morphing into general hostility. Elements of the Jewish community walk in fear of rising anti-Semitism; the Pope’s visit was threatened by a preposterous attempt to arrest the Pontiff for crimes against humanity; often, the Catholic Church is described as ‘evil’ in its entirety.