When it comes to the harmful lies our politicians tell about Islam, Douglas Murray is spot on - as usual

Islamic extremists did themselves proud yesterday, I must say, what with their vile, subhuman outrages in France, Tunisia and Kuwait. Our politicians rapidly scuttled to the nearest microphone to spew out the usual untruths about Islam being a peaceful religion (which it demonstrably isn't) and about how the latest round of Grand Guignol horrors were NOTHING TO DO WITH ISLAM (in which case one is left somewhat puzzled by the astonishing coincidence that almost every such act is carried out by Muslims these days). If Christian extremists claiming to be carrying out the will of God were responsible for similar atrocities - especially ones in which they deliberately picked out innocent Arab holidaymakers for slaughter - would Arab leaders be assuring their people that it had nothing to do with Christianity? Obviously not.

Possibly the best current writer on this topic (and there are quite a few doing a fine job) is Douglas Murray, who is particularly sound on the evasive, dhimmitudinal wetness of our current political masters. Today, he has trained his razor-sharp intellect on the subject in The Spectator (full article available here):

All these leaders are wrong. In private, they and their senior advisers often concede that they are telling a lie. The most sympathetic explanation is that they are telling a ‘noble lie’, provoked by a fear that we — the general public — are a lynch mob in waiting. ‘Noble’ or not, this lie is a mistake. First, because the general public do not rely on politicians for their information and can perfectly well read articles and books about Islam for themselves. Secondly, because the lie helps no one understand the threat we face. Thirdly, because it takes any heat off Muslims to deal with the bad traditions in their own religion. And fourthly, because unless mainstream politicians address these matters then one day perhaps the public will overtake their politicians to a truly alarming extent.

We have - I'm delighted to say - moved on a bit since 2009, when that personification of  mediocrity and incompetence, the Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith (the one with the porn enthusiast husband) prevented the anti-Islam Dutch politician Geert Wilders from entering the country in case he rocked the multiculti fantasy her party had spent twelve years carefully constructing. A few days' ago, David Cameron even went so far as to accuse "some" Muslim communities in Britain of "quietly condoning" extremism. And if Ed Miliband had won the election, making anti-Islamic statements would have become a hate crime. And that ghastly woman "Baroness" Khasi is no longer a power in the Tory party. But it's going to take more than some mild "tsk-tsking" and a bit of finger-wagging to convince the vast majority of the electorate that our government truly has our backs.

Thank God for brave, clear-headed intellectuals like Douglas Murray, who reject dangerous cultural relativist nonsense and are willing - at some risk to their personal safety - to hold our government to account.