Test for the West

In the last month or so we have entered a crucial phase in the struggle between the West and extremist Islam.

This has become clear both at home and abroad. At home we have seen not only the so-called Trojan Horse project where Muslim governors tried to Islamise Birmingham schools but also the immense tragedy of gangs of largely Pakistani Muslim men targeting and trading children for under-age sex in Rotherham and across the North. They used threats and violence while the police and local authorities turned a blind eye. The report by Professor Alexis Jay said that more than 1,400 children were sexually abused over a period of 16 years.

Meanwhile, abroad we have been shocked by the totalitarian horrors of ISIL (the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) as its jihadi well-equipped volunteers have captured large areas of Iraq and Syria, driving out or massacring those who refuse their particular brand of Islam. Western journalists and aid workers taken hostage by this group have been beheaded and footage of the executions – seemingly carried out by a British jihadi – posted on the internet for all to see. The response to all this so far has been weak and confused, especially from the UK.