Anti-Terror Consultation

I hesitate to ask, because the British government will no doubt be quick to furnish an answer, but can once-Great Britain sink any lower than this?

The police are considering a proposal to let selected British Muslims examine the intelligence used to mount anti-terrorism raids before they take place.

So what makes Muslims a special case? I don't recall any efforts to tell the Irish community in London before any action was taken against IRA terrorists.

The review of the raid includes members of the Muslim Safety Forum-

Azad Ali, its chairman, said fresh measures, such as British Muslims being able to advise the police on their intelligence and how to act on it before any raid, must be found.

The MSF is the same group that walked out of talks with police when the revealed that they were going to arrest British Gitmo prisoners upon their return to the UK-

MSF chairman Azad Ali, who is also a member of the Islamic Forum Europe, told Blink the group were "seriously considering" their relationship with the police.

He's also the chap who made this response to Home Office Minister Hazel Blears comments, "The threat is most likely to come from those people associated with an extreme form of Islam or who are falsely hiding behind Islam"-

Azad Ali, Chair of the MSF said, "The MSF has always maintained that the Police are targeting the Muslim community - we now have the green light for the Police to carry this out even further with the blessing of Hazel Blears, the Police Minister."

"Not one terror related charge has been brought as a result of discriminatory stop and searches. To date, this practice has motivated and provided justification for a right wing onslaught of violence and stigmatisation against innocent members of the Muslim community - recent evidence links the increase in hate crimes against Muslims with the Governments 'War on Terror'." By endorsing discrimination and Islamophobia, Minister Blears words can only further alienate and marginalise the UK's most victimised community.

And note this too-

Although there are 2 million Muslims in the UK, it is clear that Hazel Blears and the Home Office did not consult with any Muslim group, specifically the MSF who are specialists in Muslim safety and security, prior to making their offensive statement. The MSF will be in contact with Hazel Blears office and will be initially demanding a meeting for her to explain her actions, and to establish proper bilateral relations so these unproductive incidents can be avoided in the future.

As the MSF already meets regularly with police, chances are Azad Ali or one of his compatriots will be one of the "chosen few" informed prior to any police anti-terrorist action.

So British national security depends on anti-Islamic terrorist information being shown to members of the Muslim community before they can do anything. Certainly sounds like it will help with speedy decision making and an ability for the security services to do their job rapidly and efficiently.