Terrorism Bill

Earlier today, my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Mr. Khan) was addressed by Madam Deputy Speaker as Shahid Malik. She is in good company, because my mother was watching the BBC Parliament channel last week and saw me referred to as Sadiq Khan. She was not pleased that I had not consulted her on the name change. We are often confused, but I assure the House that we are not twins. Most hon. Members will agree that since 7 July few places have been challenged as much as my constituency. I was proud to be elected as Dewsbury’s MP, but that pride pales into insignificance compared with the pride I feel at the way in which we have responded, as a united community, against the twin evils of terrorism and extremism. However, I am not naive, and the arrest this weekend in my constituency of a young man whom the tabloids have labelled the fifth suicide bomber underlines the need for constant vigilance. The alleged ringleader of the 7 July attacks was Mohammed Siddique Khan, also from Dewsbury. Many hon. Members will have seen his chilling video on al-Jazeera, in which he blamed westerners like me for the attacks. More than 50 innocent people, including six Muslims, were murdered in the attacks, so let us make no mistake that he meant people like me. Let us be clear that the only people responsible for those heinous acts were Siddique Khan and his twisted associates. Nothing in this world could excuse or justify their vile actions. I shall touch on the debate about the cause of the suicide bombings. It is true that foreign policy concerns about Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine and Iraq, coupled with deprivation and the negative portrayal of Islam in the media, have caused frustration and anger among British Muslims. I am often angry and frustrated about injustices at home and abroad, but I do not blow myself up and kill innocent fellow citizens in the belief that I will go to heaven. No Muslim I have ever met would suggest that such actions were Islamic. The lethal ingredient that turns legitimate anger and frustration into hatred and terrorism is an utterly grotesque and perverted interpretation of Islam. That is why I associate myself with the remarks of my right hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Itchen (Mr. Denham), who talked of debate, discourse and democracy as the vehicle for change in this country. In my maiden speech, two weeks before 7 July, I said that a modern Britain had no place for extremism of any order, whether it be from Nick Griffin and the BNP or Sheikh Omar Bakri and al-Muhajiroun. I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary for ensuring that Bakri—a man who caused more damage to the image of Islam than the BNP ever could—is no longer in Britain. I wish only that we could send Nick Griffin with him. I ask hon. Members to heed the point that we must send a clear message from this Chamber that this issue is not about Islam, but about extremism. The Bill is not about targeting Muslims, but about targeting extremism, whatever shape or form it takes. However, I repeat the concerns that I articulated in the Home Affairs Committee that my right hon. Friend needs to strive to strike the balance between civil liberties and security for our citizens. We must be careful not to exclude the very people whose support is crucial in this struggle.