MAY I thank Firdous Patel for her reply to my letter on Muslim immigration to the UK.

There are, however, a number of points which you have ignored.

You say that terrorism is strictly forbidden within Islam. Well, try telling that to Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or other Muslim Terrorist organisations in the Middle East and Africa.

To them, terrorism is a way of life in the name of Islam. May I quote the words of Jack Straw when he said: “Whilst not all Muslims are terrorists, almost all terrorists are Muslims.” Those words are still true. To say that Islam forbids terrorism will not do. As for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, these are not wars of conquest. In Iraq, we released their people from the rule of an evil tyrant, Saddam Hussein, and gave those people the opportunity to be free.

It is Al Qaeda who now seek to deny them that freedom.

In Afghanistan, we sought to defeat that evil organisation known as the Taliban, and again to give the people of that country the opportunity to be free. It is those terrorist organisations who seek to prevent it happening, and who are responsible for all those wasted lives.

Had you been brought up in Afghanistan when the Taliban ruled, you would not be the educated and articulate woman that you are, but would have received no education at all. You would not even have been taught to read or write. Should the Taliban ever seize control, the people of Afghanistan will be taken back into the dark ages, living in fear and poverty. They would be ruled by the power of the gun, and we would once again have the spectacle of women being stoned to death in the street, plus all the other atrocities they commited when they last took control.

As for our country’s economic situation, I certainly do not blame this on immigrants, but on Gordon Brown and the previous Labour Government for their spendthrift economic policies, landing us with an unsustainable debt.

The unfortunate thing is that these terrorist organisations have many sympathisers in this country, and more young boys are being indocrinated with extreme views even as you read this. And all because of people’s belief in mythical, imaginary Gods.

David James Bolton