I certainly don't agree with Shaheed Malik, the Labour MP, on much but on the biggest issue of the time - the need to fight and defeat Islamist terror - he has been a strong voice. (Which is why it was disappointing that he didn't join his colleague, Khalid Mahmood MP, in ignoring last week's infamous round robin letter).

He makes a fundamental point in today's Sunday Times:

I believe that as a Muslim there is no better place to live than Britain. That doesn’t mean that all in the garden is rosy; often Islamophobia is palpable. But my message is: whether you are white, Asian, black, Muslim, Christian or Jew, if you don’t like where you’re living you have two choices: either you live elsewhere, or you engage in the political process, attempt to create change and ultimately respect the will of the majority.

When Lord Ahmed, the Muslim Labour peer, heard my comments — I said essentially that if Muslims wanted sharia they should go and live somewhere where they have it — he accused me of doing the BNP’s work. He is entitled to his opinion. However, a little honesty, like mine, in this whole debate might just restore trust in politicians and ease the population’s anxieties.