.. the country’s principal police force involved in counterterrorism is now under the control of an officer whose obsession with the “diversity” agenda is thought to be undermining the fight against terror.

The oppressive side of this philosophy surfaced recently when Sir Ian Blair, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, was rebuked by an employment tribunal for “hanging his own officers out to dry” to prove his anti-racist credentials.

This was after his force was found to have racially discriminated against three white officers who were disciplined after alleged racist remarks at a training day, in which one of them had referred to Muslim headgear as “tea cosies”, mispronounced Shi’ites as “shitties” and said he felt sorry for Muslims who fasted during Ramadan.

Yet following this institutional bullying over Islamophobia, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Brian Paddick yesterday made the astonishing comment: “As far as I am concerned Islam and terrorists are two words that do not go together.” So what, then, does he think Al Qaeda is?

While few would disagree that the Met has to be sensitive to the needs of ethnic minorities, Sir Ian’s obsession with attacking “Islamophobia” is now raising serious concerns among certain police officers and security sources.

It is getting in the way of the job the police are called upon to do. Officers who try to address the delicate issue of terrorism and its supporters within the Muslim community now find themselves in danger of being accused within their own force of Islamophobia.

Daily Mail, 8 July 2005