The Conservative party chair, Baroness Warsi, has been banned by David Cameron from attending a major Islamic conference today, igniting a bitter internal row over how the government tackles Islamist extremism.
Warsi, Britain's first female Muslim cabinet minister, was told by the prime minister to cancel her appearance at the Global Peace and Unity Event, which is being billed as the largest multicultural gathering in Europe.
The London-based conference is aimed at improving community relations, yet critics have pointed out that a number of speakers who are due to appear have justified suicide attacks and promoted al-Qaida, homophobia and terrorism. [guardian.co.uk] Read more
No Government Minister should go to this weekend's Global Peace and Unity event .... I linked to Dominic Grieve's speech to the last GPU, in which he read the organisers the riot act (politely, but firmly). As you'll see from clicking on the link, the video of his remarks has been removed by the organisers from YouTube.
However, the copy of his text that I have in front of me confirms that he referred to two extremist speakers, made clear his concerns - "such people have nothing to contribute and I don't want to share any platform with them anywhere" - and concluded: "The future participation of mainstream politicians including myself who wish to support the stated aims of this event will be impossible if this issue is not addressed." [ConservativeHome] Read more
