The Liberal Democrats and the Islamists

Ever wondered why the Liberal Democrats have adopted the mantle of being the most pro-Islamist party? Ever considered why the Liberal Democrats, a party that purports to promote liberalism, seemingly supports radical Islamists whose raison d'etre is intolerance? Ever thought it strange the Liberal Democrats are now in alliance with far left groups like Respect in their desire for immediate withdrawal from Iraq? Could it be anything to do with the fact that for a number of years Sir Ming's office was funded by the Liberal Democrat Middle East Council, the well resourced and well supported pro-Arabist lobby?

It is noticeable that since Sir Ming's accession to the party leadership, the Liberal Democrats have been more Arabist, more pro Islamic in tone than ever before. The Lib Dems have yellowed the brown-red alliance hitherto occupied by Clare Short (inviter of extremist group Hizb ut-Tahrir into the House of Commons) and Ken Livingstone (inviter of extremist Islamic Sheikhs to the Greater London Authority) and of course George Galloway's Respect.

At almost every opportunity, the Liberal Democrats are courting Islamist opinion across the UK, going out of their way to attack the Government over the veil issue, criticising the police in their activities against fundamentalists and of course being the mainstream party that is most hostile to Israel.

Word has gone out from Lib Dem high command to support Islamists wherever possible. So when Baroness Tonge praises suicide bombers and suggests world wide Jewish-Israeli financial conspiracies, when the ex-leader of the Lib Dem MEPs Chris Davies talks about Jews "wallowing in their own filth", in an email, this is all grist to the mill. Although they may get a mild rapping of knuckles later, at least the damage has been done and the headlines made to appease the Islamist community.

There is another factor at work here, and it is not just about the funding of Sir Ming's office. The Liberal Democrats are closely fighting a number of Labour marginals across England, a number of which have high Muslim populations. In some of these constituencies the Muslim vote could swing seats away from Labour into the hands of the Liberal Democrats - a fact clearly acknowledged by the hard line Muslim Public Affairs Committee. At the last election, Liberal Democrats disposed of Blairite Lorna Fitzsimons in Rochdale, by courting the radical Islamist vote in this way.

Some thoughtful Liberal Democrat MPs like Nick Clegg are thought to be unhappy at the party's courting of radical Islam and there are other Lib Dem backbenchers who want more balance on this issue. The problem is that the Lib Dem high command's electoral calculations, coupled with Sir Ming's long association with the FCO establishment/Arabist point of view, are likely to triumph, at least in the short term.

PS: Before the last election, MPAC told constituents of Lorna Fitzsimons:

We gave you your chance but you let us down. Now you must pay the ultimate price by losing your seat.

A Liberal Democrat candidate resigned yesterday after being linked to a Muslim group accused of anti-Semitism. Ajmal Masroor announced that he would no longer be standing for the Lib Dems in West Ham only hours after the party was asked why he had posted an appeal for support on the Muslim Public Affairs Committee website. At the weekend the MPAC apologised to Labour's Lorna Fitzsimons after distributing leaflets falsely describing her as Jewish.
[Daily Telegraph, 19 April 2005]