The battle for hearts and minds

A change of emphasis is also taking place in Westminster. Gordon Brown has dropped the use of the phrase “war on terror”, and Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, was careful not to single out Muslims or Islam when briefing MPs about the car bombing attempts.

Nor, it seemed, was there a rush to wave through a new round of antiterror laws to clamp down on extremists. Instead, Brown inclined more to winning hearts and minds, ordering the Union Jack to be raised across Whitehall in a display of national solidarity and to reinforce his commitment to Britishness.

That previous strategies to combat extremism have failed is clear. Quite apart from the car bombs, recent court cases have revealed other, home-grown terrorists are still intent on plotting death and destruction. A poll last month by Channel 4 News revealed that almost a quarter of Britain’s 2m Muslims still do not believe that the 7/7 attacks were carried out by the four named suicide bombers – even though two of them left video-taped testimonies.

More than half of those polled also felt the security services had made up evidence to convict terror suspects. A survey in July 2006 found that 13% of Muslims in Britain viewed the 7/7 bombers as heroic and 16% said that while the attacks were wrong, their cause was right.

Lamenting the government’s failure to change such attitudes, one minister said: “We got it all wrong after 7/7. We should have held our nerve and not just leapt into doing something for the sake of it. We have had to start again from scratch.” So what has gone wrong in the battle for hearts and minds and what is the government now planning? AFTER the 7/7 attacks Tony Blair spoke out with his trade-mark theatricality. “The rules of the game are changing,” he declared, promptly launching a 12-point plan of action intended to combat radicalism.

Little has come of it. A proposal to shut mosques “fomenting extremism” was immediately shelved after protests from Muslim leaders and the police; no progress has been made on plans to speed up the extradition of terror suspects wanted in other countries; and nobody has been convicted under a new offence of glorifying terrorism (though one person has been charged).

Plans to boot out radical preachers have been hampered by the government’s failure to secure agreements with other countries not to torture depor-tees. Only four agreements have been signed and one person deported.

A proposal to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, a group with which at least two of the alleged car bomb plotters came into contact, was dropped. The use of “control orders” to keep terror suspects under close scrutiny is descending into farce. Out of 18 suspects placed on these orders – a form of house arrest – seven have absconded.

The system is also facing legal challenges by the very people said to be potential terrorists. Last week several people subjected to control orders launched appeals in the House of Lords, arguing that the orders violate their right to liberty and a fair trial. If their cases are upheld, the government might be forced to scrap the entire system.

A “Muslim taskforce” set up by Blair achieved “virtually nothing”, according to Lord Ahmed, a Labour peer. It came up with 64 recommendations, but most were rejected or remain as “work in progress”.

One proposal that was implemented involved setting up a “roadshow” of Muslim scholars to promote the true tenets of Islam. “But who goes to these roadshows?” Ahmed said.

“Frankly, the nutters don’t go. You are preaching to the converted, not to the ones that you need to reach.”

Is the government, however, completely to blame for these failings? Critics point out that its choice of bedfellows might not have been ideal. When Blair set up his Muslim task-force, he sought help from “the usual suspects”, such as members of the Muslim Council of Britain, according to Say-eeda Warsi, the shadow communities minister.

“The government failed because it didn’t engage wider and deeper to develop a true understanding of the Muslim community, choosing instead to listen to self-appointed leaders,” Warsi said.

It is at the ideological level that action is required, according to Hassan Butt, a former jihadi. “Most Muslim institutions in Britain just don’t want to talk about theology,” he said. “They refuse to broach the difficult and often complex truth that Islam can be interpreted as condoning violence against the unbeliever . . . scholars must go back to the books and come forward with a refashioned set of rules and revised understanding of the rights and responsibilities of Muslims.” BROWN seems to be putting more emphasis on winning the battle of ideas while also being tough on security. A cabinet source explained: “Gordon believes that this is an ideological war akin to the cold war. He has directed ministers to come up with ideas by which we can engage minority groups better and make them feel more part of the UK.”

A senior government source said: “We can’t win the battle of hearts and minds from Whitehall: it can be won only in local communities but we can provide more support and strategic leadership.”

The new action plan includes proposals to extend citizenship education nationally into madrasahs and supplementary schools for the first time. The Bradford Council of Mosques is providing material on citizenship for use in madrasahs. This will shortly be used in every main mosque in the city and the government wants to see it rolled out nationally.

The government is also trying to prevent extremists entering Britain to foment trouble: foreign imams now have to show competency in English before they can take up posts at British mosques. However, research indicates the real problem lies with those who are already here. Only 8% of imams were born in the UK and only 6% speak English as their first language, according to a report by Chester University.

Ministers also want to raise standards for clerics who work in sensitive areas such as prisons.

But Warsi believes more can be done. She proposes the creation of a hotline, modelled on ChildLine or the Samaritans, to provide concerned Muslim parents with advice on how to spot telltale signs of radicalisation.

Meanwhile, Brown plans to harden up legislation to help catch terrorists. He is pledging to increase the number of days a terrorist suspect can be held without charge beyond the current limit of 28 days – possibly up to 90 days if he can win support from MPs.

Brown will also consider allowing evidence from telephone taps to be used in court and letting police interrogate suspects after they have been charged.

But his greatest advantage might be the sense of change that Blair’s departure and his arrival have generated.

“We feel more energised now with a new prime minister,” said Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, chairman of the Muslim Council of Britain’s inter-faith relations committee. “At last we feel that we are being treated fairly and being embraced as citizens. We should end this portrayal of Muslims being part of the problem – we are actually part of the solution.”