Conservative MP Mike Freer has announced he is stepping down from Parliament after enduring a decade of intimidation, death threats, and an arson attack. The decision has prompted soul-searching in Westminster, with Commons Speaker calling for 'nicer politics' and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak describing the campaign against Freer as an 'attack on democracy'.
However, a Daily Mail editorial argues that the problem will not be solved until the country confronts the Islamist threat. It notes that Freer was hounded by Muslim fanatics and targeted by the extremist who murdered MP Sir David Amess. Since 2017, Britain has suffered at least six Islamist atrocities, and two secular London schools recently faced masked protests and bombing threats from Muslim hardliners.
The editorial criticises political correctness and multiculturalism for insulating some Muslim communities from wider British society, creating 'Petri dishes for extremism'. It also accuses the police of failing to clamp down on anti-Semitic thuggery since the October 7 attacks on Israel, and the BBC of turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism.
While acknowledging that the overwhelming majority of Muslims contribute positively to society, the piece urges leaders to unapologetically promote a sense of Britishness and challenge the pernicious ideology of Islamism at every opportunity, without fear of being called racist.
