One of the most pressing issues in modern Britain is the cultural conflict between religious protection and the right to criticise religions.
This is a debate that centres on the presence of Islam – and an increasingly assertive, confident, and deeply political British Muslim population – in a society which has witnessed the rapid liberal secularisation of the mainstream.
It ultimately gives rise to questions over the degree to which freedom of expression is being protected in the public sphere and to what extent Islamist-inspired social regulation challenges it.
Recently, Oxford Union president Arwa Elrayess received criticism for inviting Tommy Robinson (also known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon) to participate in a debate on Islam. Elrayess – a Muslim of Palestinian heritage – has shown a special kind of courageous leadership which is so lacking in this day and age.
Writing for The Telegraph, she declared that “for two decades, the primary strategy of the Left when confronting far-Right ideas has been silence: refuse a platform, deny a debate and hope the problem goes away”.
Her analysis is spot on – this liberal-Left censoriousness has not done us any favours as a multi-faith democracy. In fact, it has only bred further frustration and heightened anxieties over the very existence of Islam in modern Britain.
Marginalising those who have such concerns will only risk driving them underground – providing fertile ground for genuine far-right extremism to grow.
There is no doubt in my mind that robust discussions over how to tackle the scourge of Islamist extremism – the principal terror threat in modern Britain - are required.
Indeed, the recent social cohesion strategy published by the UK Government – Protect What Matters – labelled Islamist extremism as “a predominant threat”.
There are also serious conversations to be had over the degree to which cases of group-based child sexual exploitation (GLCSE) – disproportionately involving perpetrators of Pakistani (Mirpuri) Muslim heritage – were religiously aggravated.In a string of cases, victims reported that such perpetrators used the term kufr (disbeliever) against them whilst committing acts of violence. We also cannot ignore the reality of much-elevated levels of antisemitism within British Muslim communities, as highlighted in the recent Understanding Islamopopulism report published by the Policy Exchange think-tank.
Despite all this, and this may be hard for some to believe – Islam is faring well in the marketplace of ideas in modern Britain. One of the most fascinating sociocultural trends in our society is the scale to which people convert to Islam.
Blocking Tommy Robinson’s Oxford Union debate is bad for Islam and bad for Britain | Getty Images
A report published in March 2024 by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) found that one in twenty Muslims living on these islands belongs to the native white-British population.
This is not a small number by any stretch of the imagination. While Islam is viewed by some as a threat to Western civilisation, growing numbers of white Britons have sought to escape from various forms of moral decay by seeking refuge in Islam.
Perhaps someone should ask Tommy Robinson why some members of the white-British ethnic majority have decided to convert to Islam, based on their intellectual convictions, search for spiritual discipline, and need for emotional fulfilment?
Is it any surprise they have done so, in a society where the traditional triad of faith, family, and community has taken a beating from the forces of radical social liberalism and free-market materialism?
I say we should debate these matters freely and robustly – in the spirit of civic solidarity, not deliberate provocation. This is where GB News is leading the pack – not shying away from the conversations this country needs, providing a space for both Islam-sceptics and Muslim social conservatives.
Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of our democracy – it should be valued and cherished.
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