Nigel Farage will tonight claim British Muslims are ‘conflicted’ in their loyalties to the UK, and there is a battle to be won for their ‘hearts and minds’. In his response to the Paris attacks, the Ukip leader will say:
‘According to research it is clear that the UK Muslim population are conflicted in their loyalties between loyalty to the UK, its way of life and its institutions and what elements within their organised faith are telling them. This conflict with the UK Muslim population suggests that there is all to play for and we can win the battle of hearts and minds.’
The Ukip leader will say we need to actively promote ‘those institutions and aspects of our society, like equality, decency, tolerance and the rule of law which are the bedrock of our civilisation’ — as well as introduce ‘complete transparency into the funding of faith institutions’, singling out money from Saudi Arabia that is spent on British Mosques and educational establishments.
Farage has long been opposed to military interventions and he will call tonight for a ‘complete rethink’ of Britain’s foreign policy, one that involves deciding that President Assad is ‘not the main problem’. Farage will say: ‘too often we have created greater instability rather than greater security, both for ourselves and for those people living in Syria, Iraq, and Libya. We have to recognise that we cannot bomb and drone ourselves to victory, but we must work with the Arab and African countries and their militaries. We must recognise that Assad and Putin are not the main problem’.
He will also argue that the European Union is now ‘seriously imperilling’ Britain’s safety and if David Cameron wishes to fight the upcoming referendum on security, he is happy to do that as he believes it’s an argument Ukip will win. Unsurprisingly, he will call for Schengen to be abolished, saying that the EU’s asylum policy has been a ‘complete failure’ — adding that comments by his old sparring partner Jean Claude-Juncker this weekend are ‘dangerously complacent’.
Ukip sources are talking up the importance of the address, describing it as ‘the most important intervention from a mainstream politician in the UK on the subject of Syria and the UK’s security situation. It is certainly designed to grab attention.
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