Self-interest

Click here for his "My generation betrayed the young generation."

In the above tweet 'mace grabbing' Lord Heseltine claims that "his generation betrayed the young generation" by voting to leave the EU. He talks of self-interest and is well placed to do so.

In 1996 when Deputy Prime Minister he faced considerable condemnation after admitting that as a businessman he had delayed the payment of bills, thus putting self-interest above the interests of his creditors.

At the time the Government was consulting on whether companies should be entitled to interest on unpaid invoices. Up to £20bn was owed to UK companies, some of them facing financial ruin.

An ardent Remainer who is campaigning for a second vote in the guise of a 'people's vote', Lord Heseltine complains that "those who are the Brexiteers" are driven by obsessions of yesteryear.

They are "ignorant of the wishes of generations yet to come", he said,  perhaps attempting to add seer to his list of  aspirations.

Self-interest is rampant in the Brexit debate. In politics it is to be expected that political parties will exploit a situation for their own advantage but the animosity generated between factions has reached a new low.

Democracy is the loser. If hardliners do not like a result they campaign until they get what they want, even if it puts the institution they claim to serve at peril. Witness the decline of Western Anglicanism after the feminist onslaught.

It is claimed that people who voted to leave the EU did not understand what they were voting for or those who did could not have foreseen the outcome of the negotiations so the people need to be consulted again even though the majority of voters in a massive turnout voted to leave, no ifs or buts.

Far from betraying future generations many Brexiteers were anxious to safeguard their British identity before it is subsumed into an EU political model nobody voted for.

The Pew Research Center (PRC) reported in 2016:  Immigration to the United Kingdom has been one of the most important issues driving the debate over whether or not the UK should remain a member of the European Union.

The Guardian reports that more than three years after Europe’s biggest influx of migrants and refugees since the second world war, tensions between EU member states over how to handle irregular immigration from outside the bloc – mainly from the Middle East and Africa – remain high.

Since 2014, 1.8 million refugees have arrived in Europe, more than 1 million of them in 2015 alone.

According to PRC figures, the UK’s immigrant population more than doubled from 3.7 million between 1990 and 2015. As of 2015, about 13% of the UK’s resident population was foreign-born resulting in multiculturalism rather than integration.

There are regular reports of migrants putting their lives at risk by crossing the English Channel in unsuitable inflatable vessels to gain illegal access to the UK illustrating the determination of people to settle in the UK by any means.

One of the founding principles of the EU is free movement of workers and their families among member states. Further uncontrolled immigration is unsustainable in the UK where the infrastructure is already under considerable pressure.

The EU attitude is take it or leave it. The option was clear.

Social care crisis

Source: ASCC

 Funding social care was the subject of Key Issues for the New Parliament 2010. It read:

In 1997 Tony Blair told the Labour Party conference “I don’t want [our children] brought up in a country where the only way pensioners can get long-term care is by selling their home.” Local authorities have been able to require people to sell their homes to pay for residential care since 1948. Thirteen years after Tony Blair’s speech, local authorities continue to do so. 

The system was seen as inherently unfair, penalising those who have saved for their old age, whilst those who have been less prudent are eligible for state-funded care.

The Money Advice Service web page includes a  table: Local authority funding for care costs – do you qualify?

Source: money Advice Service

 Age UK has a useful explanation of the means test when paying for care. The NHS also has a guide to care and support. Health and social services in Wales are explained here and here.

No comfort there for the frugal. Anyone who has saved for their old-age hoping to pass on their property to their children, especially now that it is so difficult to get onto the property ladder, is likely to regret the fact when the profligate are rewarded.

The Commission on the Future of Health and Social Care in England (also known as the Barker Commission) was asked whether the post-war settlement, which established separate systems for health and social care, remains fit for purpose. Three problems were identified:

Problem 1: the system is unfair  Most health care (major and minor) is free at the point of use. Social care is heavily rationed and means tested. This leads to situations where people with dementia have to pay for their own care while people with cancer don’t. Both cases involve significant care needs but they get very different levels of assistance from the state. There is not equal treatment of equal needs.

Problem 2: the funding is separate  The NHS budget is ring-fenced, comes mostly from national taxation and must be spent on health. Publicly funded social care is paid for by local authorities through a mixture of central government grant, council tax and user charges. Levels of spending vary across the country. Deciding who pays for what is a constant source of friction which can impact on people who are caught between the two systems.

Problem 3: the system is not co-ordinated  The organisations that commission health and social care - 211 clinical commissioning groups for hospital care, emergency care, community care and mental health; 152 local authorities for social care; and NHS England for primary and specialist care - are not aligned. This creates inefficiencies with financial and human costs. For example, 3,000 beds a day are occupied by people who are fit to leave but are stuck in hospital while funding or assessment is resolved.

The current system is unfair, unjust and unsustainable. Bed-blocking up by 52 per cent in three years, NHS figures show. For example, Patients in England experienced some 177,000 days-worth of delays paffecting more than 5,900 beds a day in April 2027. "The problem was projected to cost the NHS £169m directly for the 2016-17 financial year, but the National Audit Office believes the overall related cost may reach some £820m annually, according to David Hare, the chief executive of NHS Partners Network."

Last January, YouGov research showed 53 per cent of people supported the idea of a 1p-in-the-pound rise in National Insurance, from 12 to 13 per cent, if it was used to fund healthcare, while 26 per cent opposed it—down from 37 per cent in 2014.

The Illustrated summary of the Barker Commission's final report posed the question 'How can we afford it?' giving examples of how almost £6 billion could be saved and suggesting a review of taxes on wealth and consider reforms to inheritance tax, wealth transfer tax, capital gains, property tax, etc.

They conclude, "Overall, the government should assume that public spending on health and social care will increase from 9.6% to 11–12% by 2025. The commission believes that in the long run this is affordable and sustainable" pointing out that it "sounds like a lot of extra money but it’s still less than other similar countries spend on health care alone."

Source: King's Fund

A report in the Telegraph shows that "the growing NHS crisis has been fuelled by the closure of almost 1,000 care homes housing more than 30,000 pensioners."

It comes as NHS figures show the worst Accident & Emergency crisis on record, amid a 37 per cent rise in the numbers stuck in hospital for want of social care, since 2010. Experts said hospitals were being overwhelmed by the spread of flu because they had almost no spare capacity to cope with surges in demand.

The report by industry analysts shows that in the last decade, 929 care homes housing 31,201 pensioners have closed, at a time when the population is ageing rapidly. The research from LaingBuisson show care homes going out of business at an ever increasing rate, with 224 care homes closed between March 2016 and March 2017, amounting to more than 2,000 beds."

For far too long Local Authorities have regarded care providers as charities resulting in business closures or demeaning 15 Min home care visits.

It is over twenty years since Tony Blair told the Labour Party conference in 1997 “I don’t want [our children] brought up in a country where the only way pensioners can get long-term care is by selling their home".

We can't wait another twenty years. Action to integrate health and social care is needed urgently, free at the point of delivery, raising revenue as necessary to assure equity. It could even be a vote winner.

Postscript [16.01.2018]

Revolution in health and social care urged in Wales

Nine leading international experts, chaired by the former chief medical officer for Wales Dr Ruth Hussey, have been looking at ways to try to put the health and social care system on a stronger footing. Ministers say a new plan will take into account the review's recommendations.

Without "significantly accelerated" change, services which are already not fit for the future, will further decline, the expert panel warns.

The NHS and social care will be expected to work "seamlessly" together to respond to a person's needs and to deliver care closer to home.

Islamic finance and persecution

"In response to customer demand, NatWest bank has launched its first mortgage product compliant with Islamic Shariah law. In accordance with Shariah law, the product will not charge interest." - NatWest Business Banking

'Sharia compliant' finance is not only permitted in Great Britain, it is encouraged by HM Government which is committed to making the UK the 'Western hub of Islamic finance'. This video by 'Christian Concern' explains that accommodating Sharia finance makes it hard to object to Sharia in family law or other areas even though it is 'inherently discriminatory' against women and non-Muslims. The aim of Islamic finance is to create a separate, rival financial system serving to prevent the integration of Muslims into Western societies [my emphasis - Ed.]. 

I was shocked to hear a prayer in the Intercessions at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance [@01:18:30] on Saturday night praying that Her Majesty, as Defender of the Faith, should 'protect the freedom of other faiths. Are our public servants and religious leaders ignorant of false prophets and the charge that we should "go and make disciples of all nations" in the knowledge as Christians that there is only one way to the Father? Do they not recognise the supremacist ideology in our midst that condemns to death apostates and beheads and crucifies people who refuse to convert to Islam?

Why should Her Majesty protect a faith based on a religious ideology that has no regard for other religious beliefs? Nissar Hussain converted from Islam to become a Christian in 1996. He has since faced aggressive behaviour and violence from members of the Muslim community where he lived in Bradford, reported here. There is graphic coverage in the MailOnline of the beating he received in 2015 after being targeted as a 'blasphemer' because he converted from Islam. He suffered a broken kneecap, a fractured forearm and concussion.

Despite evidence from the world over of the attitude of Islam to non-Muslims, leading Anglicans continue to pander to 'interfaith cohesion' interpreting the Quran in a way that some misinterpret the Bible to suit their own ends.

The hand of friendship offered by the Muslim Council of Wales in Great Britain is not mirrored in Muslim dominated countries. When Muslims form a majority churches are closed or destroyed and Christians are persecuted or killed. Peace in Islam means when everyone has been converted, if necessary by the sword.

It has been estimated by Open Doors International that 100 million Christians worldwide endure some sort of persecution each year with 7,100 Christians killed for their faith in 2015 alone. 

Encouraging and protecting the freedom of Islam is the last thing we need if we value our own freedom. Christians are the victims of 80% of all acts of religious discrimination in the world. Please find the time to watch the short documentary, Under Caesar's Sword (HT Anglican Mainstream).

Late News [14.11.2016]

From MailOnline:
BBC will increase religious coverage for Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs after it was slammed for being 'too CHRISTIAN'.

Postscript [15.11.2016]

Petition to Protect Christian programming and coverage at the BBC

Voice for Justice UK has organised a petition via CitizenGo calling on Her Majesty’s Government, and in particular Karen Bradley, Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, to exercise due oversight of the BBC and to reject any attempt to downgrade Christian programming in favour of increased coverage for Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh faiths. The Director-General of the BBC, Lord Hall of Birkenhead, has said he will increase the coverage of other faiths and could broadcast Friday prayers from a mosque along the lines of Songs of Praise. He says he will do this because there have been complaints that the Corporation was ‘too Christian’.

In 2011 a survey conducted by the BBC itself found that of the 4,500 people approached, the overwhelming feeling was that the BBC was anti-Christian, and that the Christian faith was consistently misrepresented. In 2012, the then Director-General, Mark Thompson, himself admitted that Christianity was treated ‘less-sensitively’ than other religions. Since that time there have been numerous similar complaints of clear bias against Christianity, some coming from employees at the BBC themselves. Full report on Anglican mainstream here. You can sign the petition here.

Translation of the Dedication that appears in the entrance hall of Broadcasting House:

This Temple of the Arts and Muses is dedicated to Almighty God by the first Governors of Broadcasting House in the year 1931, Sir John Reith being Director-General. It is their prayer that good seed sown may bring forth a good harvest, that all things hostile to peace or purity may be banished from this house, and that the people, inclining their ear to whatsoever things are beautiful and honest and of good report, may tread the path of wisdom and uprightness.

Diluting the faith

"British citizens are right to fear mass migration"             Source: Express/Getty

Over the past week the media was full of the Archbishop of Canterbury's claim that "British citizens have a right to 'fear' the migrant crisis". The Telegraph put it more bluntly: "For the many millions of Britons who have seen their country changed irrevocably in recent years, his words are too little, too late".

Archbishop Justin Welby said that many Britons had a genuine and justified fear of mass immigration. In fragile communities particularly there was a genuine fear about housing, jobs and access to health services.

Important as these matters are there is a more fundamental concern, that of social cohesion which requires co-operation but for Muslim communities this is only on their terms. As they increase in strength they demand increasing privileges for themselves on religious grounds regardless of the impact on others. Immigrant Muslims do not leave the perils of their ideology behind them, they bring them with them, adding to the demands for special treatment.

Coverage of Archbishop Welby's intervention by the BBC included video clips of schools in which there were no indigenous white children in sight, confirming earlier reports that in more than 200 schools nine in ten pupils do not speak English as their mother tongue and that 14 different languages including Pahari, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Somali, Polish, Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Portuguese, Arabic, Spanish and Pashto, are spoken in some schools, increasing the pressure on scarce resources.

In another BBC video in which descendants of immigrant families featured, the problem of integration rather than immigration was identified without mentioning the biggest problem, the formation of Islamic enclaves where Muslims live according to their own imported laws. In January 2013, Manchester University statistician Ludi Simpson analyzed official data from the 2011 census and found that native white Britons are already a minority in Leicester (45%), Luton (45%) and Slough (35%). He also forecast that they would be a minority in Birmingham by 2019, nearly a decade earlier than the previous estimate.

Despite the glaring problem of integration, Church and State tend to regard Islam as just another religion which has been hijacked by a few fundamentalists. These 'terrorists', (Islamists) plan terror attacks around the world including attacks on those they regard as bad Muslims. Ironically the attackers are 'good' Muslims in their ideology because they are following their prophet's example, believing that slaughter of the innocent to be God's will. As they maim and kill their defenceless victims they cry 'Allahu Akbar' (God is greater).

Ignoring the facts that Christians and Jews are being specifically targeted, misguided clerics encourage the spread of Islam in this country. The evidence for the Muslim invasion is broadcast daily. Archbishop Welby says proclaiming the Gospel is “integral to being a Christian” so why the softly, softly approach to Islam when the only answer to the world's problem is to expose the ideology for what it is, one of supremacy regardless of the consequences.

"Western policies of multiculturalism are founded on the principle that immigration should not discriminate on the basis of nationality, creed, race or any other distinguishing feature among people. Yet such refusal to take account of the differences and oppositions that are essential to human nature mean that well-intentioned Western immigration programs are setting up the rivalries and conflicts of the future."

There are fundamental differences between Christians and Muslims which cannot be dismissed. Why, after the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, would the Angel Gabriel confide in Muhammad that it was all a load of baloney and that God's real purpose was to crush everyone who did not conform to a warlord's modus operandi?

Diluting the faith is not the answer, it is a matter of conversion. Doubting clerics should read 'Christ has revolutionised my life' here.

Postscript [16.03.2016]
THE GENOCIDE OF CHRISTIANS. Petition to recognise the genocide of Christians and other minorities. Please read and sign here.

Too little, too late?

Muslims now make up over 5% of the population of Britain                            Source: The Sun/ Alamy

Great Britain is now home to more than 3 million Muslims for the first time ever with more than half born outside the UK.

In most of Europe and the developed world birth rates are low among native-born women. Among Muslim immigrant populations birth rates are much higher.

While the Prime Minister is trying to convince us that he has achieved a remarkable victory (by watering down his demands) in Europe, the reality is staring us in the face.

Unlike most other immigrants Muslims want domination not integration. There lies the real problem.

Thought for the Day

Credit: South Wales Argus

"A young man who recently converted to Islam told me that while he loved his new found faith, the worship the prayers and the discipline, one of the worst things about his new life was listening to the Friday sermon. He had yet to hear a sermon which actually engaged with the very real ethical issues which plague many Muslim communities, integration, identity, radicalisation as well as the more complex discussions around loyalty and belonging. Rather than address those very real problems, many imams were more obsessed with the length of beards, how much water you needed for ablutions or the dangers of men and women mixing. And it’s true, so many of these sermons are absurdly divorced from the painful realities of what’s happening around us. Many preachers refuse to acknowledge that even if militant Islamism lies at the margins of society, it has a cancerous effect on the whole of Islam and affects us all.

In all these sermons, there are copious references to the Prophet’s daily life. But if the prophet is to be a reference point, why not raise those other matters he is also reputed to have said, that a time would come when nothing would remain of Islam but its name, nothing of the Quran but its word, and that many mosques would be beautifully furnished but destitute of any guidance. Our witness to the faith today is preachers who use their sermons to encourage hate while calling Islam peaceful. We have young men who talk of the brotherhood of Muslims but kill innocents randomly simply because they can, conflicted Muslim states too busy both blaming the west and indulging the west. If this continues what will remain of Islam, a religion seemingly reduced to compulsory ritual without spiritual essence.

The Islamic world has become far less sophisticated in how it reads its own scripture and sources. In this lies one of the roots of religious fundamentalism and over the years, it has morphed into a harsh and cruel Islamism. The two are inexorably linked both deluding themselves that Islam will one day be dominant. There is no victory here only nihilism. Geopolitics may drive the violence, extremist militancy may be small in numbers, but innocents being slaughtered in the Arab world and in Europe has at its core an ideology where dying is more important than living. God is the greatest is a call to prayer, but it has also become a prelude to a death cult. Many ordinary Muslims remain baffled by global events, for them their faith remains a source of moral and spiritual growth, of giving and generosity. But last week’s tragic attacks in Paris, yesterday’s shootings, show that unless we are active in defending all that is good in our faith, there will be no faith to defend. With each attack Islamism won’t weaken the west, but it will hollow out the Muslim faith just that little bit more."

 - BBC Radio 4 Thought for the Day 19 November 2015.

   Mona Siddiqui, Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations,

   University of Edinburgh School of Divinity.

As Sadiq Khan the MP for Tooting said,  "Extremism isn't a theoretical risk. Most British Muslims have come across someone with extremist views at some point – and so have I. It's affected my personal life, my friendships and my career. People I knew as a boy have gone on to hold extremist views, and even to act on them in terrible ways."

The message attached to the rose in the illustration is a powerful one. The quotation has been used countless times as an Islamic condemnation of the Paris bombings. But it is only part of a longer verse in the Quran which is contradicted by the next verse 5:33 as explained here in response to a comment made on the Answering Muslims blog:

Verse 5:32 - On that account: We ordained for the Children of Israel that if any one slew a person - unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land - it would be as if he slew the whole people: and if any one saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people. Then although there came to them Our apostles with clear signs, yet, even after that, many of them continued to commit excesses in the land.

Verse 5:33 - The punishment of those who wage war against God and His Apostle, and strive with might and main for mischief through the land is: execution, or crucifixion, or the cutting off of hands and feet from opposite sides, or exile from the land: that is their disgrace in this world, and a heavy punishment is theirs in the Hereafter.

Greater honesty as expressed by Professor Mona Siddiqui in 'Thought for the Day' would bring more credit to Muslims who protest that Islam is a Religion of Peace.

Radicalisation - Cameron's Conference Speech October 2015

Prime Minister David Cameron at the Conservative Party Conference                       Picture: Getty

The following extract from David Cameron's speech to the Conservative Party conference as reported in the Mirror (here) touches on National security, extremism, radicalisation, terrorism, oppression and integration. Fine words but spoken from a Western, Judeo-Christian perspective with no apparent understanding of the threat posed by Islam.

"My first duty as Prime Minister is to keep people safe. Some of the loneliest moments in this job are when you are reading intelligence reports about plots being planned against the British people.

This summer I was told that Reyaad Khan and Junaid Hussain were in Syria planning terrorist attacks on UK soil. Of course, I asked all the proper questions. How do we stop them? Is there another way? Do we have that capability? Is it legal?

I knew that whatever action I took would provoke a big debate. But my job as Prime Minister is quite simple, really: ultimately, it’s not to debate; it’s to decide. And the choice I faced was this: Act – and we could stop them carrying out their plans. Stall – and we could see innocent people murdered on our streets. So I took decisive action to keep Britain safe – and that’s what I will always do...

"We need to confront – and I mean really confront – extremism. When I read what some young people born and brought up in this country are doing, it makes me feel sick to my stomach. Girls not much older than my eldest daughter, swapping loving family homes and straight-A futures for a life of servitude under ISIL, in a land of violence and oppression.

Boys who could do anything they wanted in Britain – who have benefitted from all this country stands for – instead ending up in the desert wielding a knife. This ideology, this diseased view of the world, has become an epidemic – infecting minds from the mosques of Mogadishu to the bedrooms of Birmingham. And here’s what we need to do.

One: tear up the narrative that says Muslims are persecuted and the West deserves what it gets. 
Never mind that it’s Britain and America behind the biggest effort to help the victims of Syria. 
Who is ISIL murdering more than anyone else? Muslims. No-one should get away with this politics of grievance anymore.

Two: take on extremism in all its forms, the violent and non-violent. People don’t become terrorists from a standing start. It begins with preachers telling them that Christians and Muslims can’t live together. It moves to people in their community saying the security services were responsible for 7/7. It progresses to a website telling them how to wage jihad, fight in Syria, and defeat the West. And before you know it, a young British boy, barely 17, is strapping bombs to his body and blowing himself up in Iraq. We have to stop it at the start – stop this seed of hatred even being planted in people’s minds, let alone allowing it to grow.

Three: we need to tackle segregation. There are parts of Britain today where you can get by without ever speaking English or meeting anyone from another culture. Zoom in and you’ll see some institutions that actually help incubate these divisions. Did you know, in our country, there are some children who spend several hours each day at a Madrassa? Let me be clear: there is nothing wrong with children learning about their faith, whether it’s at Madrassas, Sunday Schools or Jewish Yeshivas. But in some Madrassas we’ve got children being taught that they shouldn’t mix with people of other religions; being beaten; swallowing conspiracy theories about Jewish people.

These children should be having their minds opened, their horizons broadened not having their heads filled with poison and their hearts filled with hate. So I can announce this today:

If an institution is teaching children intensively, then whatever its religion, we will, like any other school, make it register so it can be inspected. And be in no doubt: if you are teaching intolerance, we will shut you down.

This goes to a wider truth. For too long, we’ve been so frightened of causing offence that we haven’t looked hard enough at what is going on in our communities. This is passive tolerance. And I’ll tell you where it leads: To children, British children, going to Pakistan in the summer holidays, before they’ve even started their GCSEs, and forced to marry a man they’ve never met…children, British children, having their genitals mutilated, not just in a clinic in Lagos but the backstreets in Britain.

This passive tolerance has turned us into a less integrated country; it’s put our children in danger. It is unforgiveable. So let me say it right here: no more passive tolerance in Britain. We’ve passed the laws – now I want them enforced. People who organise forced marriages – I want them prosecuted.

Parents who take their children for FGM – I want them arrested. And as we do that, we shouldn’t just be saying what’s wrong with these practices; we should be saying what’s right with Britain.

Freedom. Democracy. Equality. These are precious. People fought for them – many died for them…
…in the trenches, a century ago; on the beaches, 30 years later…in the Suffragettes; in Gay Pride.

Half the world is crying out for these freedoms – they see what we’ve achieved with them. Free speech – and the best literature in the world. Freedom of religion – and many faiths living side by side, peacefully."

If Mr Cameron genuinely wants to "confront extremism" he needs to develop a strategy which recognises Islam as the supremacist ideology it is, believing that everyone and everything belongs to Allah who demands to be worshiped and rewards believers for their good works which includes killing non-believers. If not willfully blind, talking with 'friendly'  Muslims and their sympathizers is pointless. They will explain that Islam is a religion of peace despite all the evidence to the contrary.

From WikiIslam: "According to Islamic laws, non-Muslims in Islamic lands should be subdued and be treated as dhimmis (second class citizens). They should be coerced and intimidated to convert to Islam, through special humiliating taxes like Jizyah imposed on them. Following Prophet Muhammad's example, this has been taking place throughout Islam's history. While Muslims demand for concessions in non-Muslim countries, non-Muslims are systematically persecuted, terrorized and ethnically cleansed from Islamic lands".

Islam is spreading through Europe. Immigration on a colossal scale and a much higher birthrate have led to estimates that Muslims to will outnumber Christians worldwide by 2070 while in 10 years Islam could be the dominant religion in the United Kingdom.

Mr Cameron expressed surprise at girls not much older than his eldest daughter "swapping loving family homes and straight-A futures for a life of servitude under ISIL, in a land of violence and oppression". - It's the ideology, stupid! - "The root of the problem lies in a radical ideology that drives individuals to join the jihadists...The minds of Islamic State group militants and those who are recruited have a deep and twisted ideology where absolute power in the name of Allah and the elimination of infidels are their main drivers". Grasp this and we can make some progress.

Beyond the veil

Photo: Philip Hollis/Telegraph

"Muslim migrants 'threw Christians overboard during row on boat from Libya to Italy', say police" - The Independent

"Muslim women should be allowed to wear the veil in court, top judge suggests" - The Telegraph

Two headlines from yesterday's newspapers. Intolerance protected by tolerance. How very British, sowing the seeds of our own destruction through kindness which is not reciprocated. That is not turning the other cheek, it is turning a blind eye. The veil may or may not be a sign of oppression depending on your point of view but it has become a symbol which enables some Muslims to thumb their noses at the rest of us while they continue to press for the implementation of Sharia after being welcomed to the United Kingdom.

International lobbyist on human rights and refugee issues, Jacqueline Pascarl lived as a Muslim woman from the age of 17 until she was 22 after marrying a Malaysian prince. She explains here that it is "rubbish" that Muslim women mostly wear the burqa to express their religious devotion. Burqas, she says "reveal more about men than women".

Nevertheless, the President of the Supreme Court, Lord Neuberger, claims that judges should allow Muslim women to appear in court wearing a full-face veil. It was "crucial that courts and judges show, and be seen to show respect towards different customs". - Even if that involves tossing fellow refugees over the side for being Christians, killing at random, destroying churches and razing ancient settlements while committing "genocide of Christians in the Middle East"? That is increasingly becoming their custom towards minorities in Islamic states.

Lord Neuberger made his remarks in an address to the Criminal Justice Alliance because a judge had ruled that Muslim women wearing a veil over their face must remove it to give evidence in court although women will be allowed to wear a veil when standing trial. The ruling came after the Prime Minister’s office expressed support for allowing schools to ban students from wearing veils. A YouGov poll in 2013 showed that "61% of British adults agreed with the statement, "the burka should be banned in Britain", while about a third (32%) disagreed.

This is where it starts, learning by heart, in Arabic, the words copied by supporters of an illiterate man who claimed they had been delivered to him from God.

The results are all too obvious, among the latest in Australia where five teenagers aged 18 and 19 have been arrested in a series of raids in Melbourne for allegedly planning "atrocious" ISIS-inspired attacks on police and the public next week events in Australia on Anzac Day. Nothing it seems is sacred in Islam, except Islam.