Britain's Muslim Question

Britain is increasingly dominated by the Muslim question.

The seemingly perpetual 'War on Terror', a war against Muslim 'extremists', throws up questions of freedom, discrimination, and the rule of law: for example, the anti terror measures, including detention without trial, the Civil Contingencies Act, draconian asset confiscation powers in the Proceeds of Crime Act, and now ID cards.

The Muslim question raises fears about how to keep the large immigrant Muslim populations in the UK and other Western countries onside, to prevent them becoming disaffected, and an enemy within, while at the same time avoiding them becoming the subject of resentment: because either possibility could lead to civil unrest. The government wants to introduce an offence of incitement to religious hatred mainly as a sop to the Muslims, but also partly to suppress discontent with them.

Other EU countries have discovered their own problems with immigrant populations, including Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Spain. With Turkey's possible entry to the EU, they are wary of adding fuel to what may prove a fire.