–Europe's Tolerance May Soon End

Surge in Muslim youth who want Islamic rule
By Macer Hall

SHOCKING evidence of the radicalization of young British Muslims emerged last night after a poll showed more than one- third want Islamic law imposed in the UK.

Three-quarters of Muslims aged 16-24 believe women should be forced to wear veils or headscarves and a third believe heretics who give up the Islamic faith deserve to be put to death, research also reveals.

The survey also found more than one in eight young adult believers "admires" Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Think-tank Policy Exchange, which commissioned the poll, blamed Government-sponsored multi-cultural policies for encouraging the separation of ethnic and religious social groups that fuels fanaticism.

The findings provoked widespread concern last night.

Tory MP Philip Davies said: "It is very alarming but it is completely correct to say that multi-cultural policies are the cause of these sorts of attitudes.

"Labour has done virtually anything possible to avoid getting Muslims to integrate into British society."

Today, David Cameron will admit that "uncontrolled immigration" has undermined social harmony in Britain.

"You can't have proper integration if people are coming into Britain at a faster rate than we can cope with," he will say in a speech in Birmingham.

Munira Mirza, the report's author, said: "The emergence of a strong Muslim identity in Britain is, in part, a result of multicultural policies implemented since the 1980s which have emphasized difference at the expense of shared national identity and divided people along ethnic, religious and cultural lines."

Of Muslims in the 16-24 age group, the poll found 37 per cent wanted Islamic sharia law in the UK, 31 per cent wanted heretics put to death and 74 per cent wanted Muslim women to wear the full-face niqab veil or the hijab headscarf.

Thirteen per cent of the age group "admired organizations like Al Qaeda
that are prepared to fight the West".

Opinions among Muslims as a whole were far more moderate.

Just under two-thirds – 60 per cent – wanted their children to attend mixed-faith state schools.

In total, 86 per cent of Muslims questioned in the survey agreed with the statement: "My religion is the most important thing in my life".

Furthermore, 84 per cent believed they had been treated fairly in British society.
Just over a quarter – 28 per cent – believed the Government and councils had gone "over the top" in trying not to offend Muslims.

The poll found 75 per cent believed it was wrong for High Wycombe Council to ban an advert for a Christmas carol service in 2003.

And 64 per cent said Dudley Council in the West Midlands was wrong to have banned all images of pigs from offices in 2005 out of fear of offending Muslims.
Sharia law is the body of Islamic law and means "way" or "path".

It specifies stoning, amputations and executions as routine punishments. Religious police bring suspects before special courts.

Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said the report indicted Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly and other ministers, adding: "Last November, Ruth Kelly admitted the Government had not ‘got it right' in this important area. It is long past time they got a grip.

"One of the most fundamentally important things is that everyone be encouraged to support the values of an open society."

Officials at the Department of Communities and Local Government are expected to begin studying the Policy Exchange report today.