.... the question here implies that, whatever your Muslim neighbours may tell you, don’t believe them. Phillips, formerly head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, said as much in a Sunday Times article last weekend: apparently the pollsters wanted to ensure the respondents did not “disguise the answer that you think will be all too disturbing for people from a different culture to hear”.
Phillips, who also wrote in yesterday’s Daily Mail, claims this poll, undertaken by ICM, supports his belief that there is “a chasm” opening between Muslims and people of other faiths, and therefore that Muslims are different and apart from the rest of society. He claims it reveals “the unacknowledged creation of a nation within the nation, with its own geography, its own values and its own very separate future”. In his view, this means “we have to adopt a far more muscular approach to integration than ever, replacing the failed policy of multiculturalism”.
This is not the first time polls have been used to paint a picture of Muslims as at variance with British culture
But when there are 13 Muslim MPs, a British Muslim candidate for mayor of London, a Muslim dragon in the Dragons’ Den, and a Muslim winner of the Great British Bake Off, it seems that in reality, Muslims are very much part of British society. There is a fringe minority, as is the case with all communities, but Phillips chooses a distorted interpretation of the UK’s diverse Muslim communities. [Miqdaad Versi, 2130 comments]
[TOP RATED COMMENT 587 votes] The finding come as no surprise at all for very many of us at the sharp end, but probably horrify the Guardianista class who seem so keen to foist their multi-culti 'vision' down the troats of those who were never consulted in the first place.
[2ND 502] As the author suggests the poll may be skewed to a certain extent but it is still disheartening to discover that over half the Muslim population wishes homosexuality to be declared a criminal offence!
[3RD 485] And no mention of sharia courts. If Muslims truly have a sense of belonging then why the insistence on a parallel legal system?
In no other segment of British society do so many people define themselves primarily by their religion. It is that which is driving division and cannot be laid at the door of the rest of the population.
[4TH 463] When I walk around Manchester and see women in the Niqab and Burka the truth of this self-segregation becomes apparent.
[5TH 457] Frankly I don't give a damn about what muslims think. They either obey our laws, or remove themselves to another country.
[6TH 445] "But when there are 13 Muslim MPs, a British Muslim candidate for mayor of London, a Muslim dragon in the Dragons’ Den, and a Muslim winner of the Great British Bake Off, it seems that in reality, Muslims are very much part of British society."
I'm not sure a Muslim winning Bake Off is of much statistical significance, and much of this article suggests the author has his head firmly in the sand. I take the point that poorer and more religious communities may have been over-represented in his polling, but even if the attitudes Phillips found are only representative of these areas, then we still have a major problem.
[7TH 441] So varied that the MCB declared that no Muslim should have to refer to the Ahmadi as Muslim? How reasonable, how liberal?! [Guardian Cif] Read more
