The Spectator’s Notes | 25 November 2006

While David Cameron was in Darfur, pointing out how Islamist leaders in Khartoum give evasive answers about the mass killings in the region, his shadow attorney-general, Dominic Grieve, was attending a rally in central London called to protest about ‘Islamophobia’. The publicity for the rally said this was manifested by a campaign of ‘physical attacks, firebombing and assaults on women… including an attempt to suppress the right of persons of all faiths to dress in accordance with their religious convictions’. It was organised by the British Muslim Initiative, an offshoot of Respect, the party represented in Parliament by George Galloway. Among those speaking were Ken Livingstone, Tony Benn and Muslims from such organisations as the Islam Channel, owned by Salafists, the hard-line Muslim Association of Britain and the Islamic Forum Europe, a radical umbrella group. Does Mr Grieve agree with the organisers that those who oppose wearing the veil are part of a campaign which includes firebombing and attacks on women? If not, why was he sharing the platform? There is something very patronising about a Tory approach which feels it has to turn up to anything which calls itself Muslim. Would Mr Grieve attend BNP rallies on the grounds that one must hear the voice of white people? There needs to be a much more rigorous identification of who is, and is not, a truly moderate Muslim.

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For some months I have been receiving abusive letters from TV Licensing. They are sent to ‘The present occupier’ of our London flat and they threaten me with criminal proceedings if I do not buy a television licence. TV Licensing has ‘authorised officers from our Enforcement Division to visit your home and interview you under caution’. John Hales, the head of the Enforcement Division, ‘strongly advises’ me to telephone a number (an 0870 number — more money to them) ‘to avoid an appearance in court’.