Stuart Clarke

For a number of years, more than 20 years ago, I worked for a Pakistani owned business and lived in a Muslim dominated area of Manchester. I understand why Nick feels this way, and those railing against it in the name of diversity are ignoring that Islam is aggressively intolerant of other religions. I have many years of personal experience with both immigrant and British born Pakistanis. There was no real difference. Islam is the one true faith and all others are "kafir". It's a far more exclusive religion than others, there is no interest in diversity of faith. You are Muslim, or you are "kafir". This was highlighted to me on the day of 9/11. It was early in the morning, around 9am, and cheers started echoing down the corridors. Word started to spread and they were all grinning and clapping each other on the backs. These were men and women born and raised here for the most part. The owner wheeled in a big CRT TV and 30-40 of them gathered around BBC news laughing and cheering like Pakistan were in the cricket world cup final. It is not hard to see why large public prayers by followers of a religion perceived as hostile to your very existence can feel less like worship and more like an assertion of dominance. I'm sure there are many good, tolerant Muslim people in this country who mix Western ideals with the muslim faith. People that consider themselves British among all else. But I learned that day that there are less than you think.