The Channel 4 documentary What British Muslims Really Think was presented by Trevor Phillips and aired on 13 April.
The programme is based on what is claimed to be the most comprehensive survey of British Muslims ever conducted. Christian Concern has been dealing with the problems arising from the growing influence of Islam in Britain for many years. They have warned about the creation of a parallel legal system and the growth of radical Islam in the nation and have spoken out about the discriminatory and abusive nature of shari’a law.
Nation-within-a-nation
Trevor Phillips, the former head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, now seems to realise that those concerns and warnings have proven to be true. He recognises that he was wrong to assume that Muslim immigrants would gradually blend in to Britain as other immigrants have done. He describes it as a ‘nation-within-a-nation’. He now thinks that ‘integration of Muslims will probably be the hardest task we’ve ever faced.’ He argues that a ‘far more muscular approach to integration’ is required, but said that ‘we are reluctant to speak clearly when it comes to Muslims.’
Key findings and proposals
Some of the key survey results are: One in three British Muslims support the right of a man to have more than one wife, even though that is illegal in the UK; 23% support areas of Britain being governed by shar- i’a law instead of British law; One in five have never entered a non-Muslim home; Only one in three said that they would report someone close to them, who they suspected of involvement with terrorist sympathisers, to the police.
Mr Phillips blamed the white liberal elite for not understanding the ‘fierce attachment to religion among ethnic minorities. He proposed the following measures be implemented to improve the integration of Muslims in Britain: Halt the growth of sharia courts and place them under regulation; Ensure that school governance never falls into the hands of a single minority group as in the ‘Trojan Horse’ episode in Birmingham; Restrict the foreign funding of mosques in Britain; End the ‘silence-for-votes’ that resulted in turning a blind eye to Islamic rape gangs in Rotherham and Rochdale.
