Telegraph

Duncan Smith refuses to sign Islam pledge By Sarah Womack, Political Correspondent (Filed: 06/11/2001)

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH, the Conservative leader, yesterday refused to sign a pledge committing his party to religious tolerance of Muslims as part of Islamic Awareness Week.

His shadow home secretary, Oliver Letwin, attended the Westminster launch of the pledge - drawn up by the Islamic Society of Britain - and delivered a statement of support for its aims.

Conservative spokesmen, however, said the party was not willing to sign itself up to declarations drafted by other organisations.

They insisted that the decision was not in response to race rows which dogged their general election campaign after William Hague signed a Commission for Racial Equality "compact" not to play the race card.

Mr Duncan Smith said he did not want to sign something that might prove divisive and encourage a witch-hunt. The Islamic Society is a cultural body, not officially recognised as being representative of all Muslims in Britain.

The awareness week is being coordinated by Hobsbawm Macaulay, the public relations firm half-owned by Gordon Brown's wife, Sarah. An Islamic Society spokesman said it did not want to "name and shame" those who did not sign.

"This is a voluntary act. Iain Duncan Smith has declined to sign it. He has his reasons not to sign. Organisers would have loved to have cross-party support, of course." It remained unclear last night whether the Chief Rabbi and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who were asked, had agreed to be signatories.

John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, and Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, both signed the pledge, to which Tony Blair had already put his name, at yesterday's launch.

It commits signatories to seek better community relations between faith groups and to avoiding using language of an inflammatory or discriminatory nature. The pledge "recognises that British Muslims joined people of all other faiths, and none, in reacting with horror to the September 11 atrocities".

Mr Duncan Smith's statement of support, said: "British Muslims, along with those of other faiths, contribute greatly to the cultural, social and economic life of our country, so I am particularly pleased to have the chance to state my full support for the aims of Islamic Awareness Week.

"I would like to reiterate our beliefs in tolerance and respect for all religious groups. We will uphold the right to religious expression no less vigorously than the other freedoms we hold dear in the months and years ahead.

"Protecting people's freedom to worship is an essential part of a free society. We will always be intolerant of those who are intolerant of others."

Mr Prescott read a message from Mr Blair describing the religion of Islam as "peaceful and tolerant" and saying that he would not allow it to be equated with the action of terrorists. We must not honour them with a religious justification, or a badge of faith."

Yusuf Bhailok, of the Muslim Council of Britain, said there had been a "very worrying" upsurge in violence against Muslims since the US attacks.

"We condemn those acts as sincerely, wholeheartedly and completely as any section of British society."

Charles Moore, editor of The Daily Telegraph, was among newspaper editors who, while saying they fully supported its sentiments, also refused to sign the pledge.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001