19/11/2015 This Week

Tonight on This Week, Islamic extremists strike

in the heart of Paris, murdering 129, injuring even more.

We reflect on the impact here, and around the world.

Counter-terrorism expert and former top soldier, Colonel

Richard Kemp, thinks bombing Islamic State doesn't go far enough.

Make no mistake, we are at war, and whether we like it or not, that

means boots on the ground in Iraq and in Syria.

Prime Minister, David Cameron and Labour Leader,

Jeremy Corbyn pay tribute at Wembley as England play France.

But both are facing their own battles in Westminster.

The BBC's John Pienaar, is in a French bistro in London.

Since Paris, political struggles are breaking out on all sides, including

the Labour Party where Jeremy Corbyn is more and more in conflict, mostly

with his own side. And, star of hit TV sit-com, Citizen

Khan actor and writer Adil Ray joins us to discuss the representation

of Islam in the media. I guess the key thing is you have to

be able to laugh at yourself. Why else would I agree to come on This

Week? A week in which a bunch

of loser jihadists slaughtered 129 innocents in Paris to prove

the future belongs to them, rather France, the country of Descartes,

Boulez, Monet, Sartre, Rousseau, Camus, Renoir, Berlioz, Cezanne,

Gaugin, Hugo, Voltaire, Matisse, Debussy, Ravel, Saint-Saens, Bizet,

Satie, Pasteur, Moliere, Camus, Franck, Zola, Balzac, Poulenc,

cutting-edge science, world-class medicine, fearsome security forces,

nuclear power, Coco Chanel, Chateau Lafite, Coq au Vin, Daft

Punk, Zizou Zidane, Juliet Binoche, Beheadings, crucifixions,

amputations, slavery, mass murder, mediaeval squalor,

and a death-cult barbarity that Well, IS, or Daesh, or Isis or Isil

or whatever name you're going by - I'm sticking with IS, as in Islamist

Scumbags - I think the outcome is Whatever atrocities you're currently

capable of committing, In 1,000 years' time Paris, that

glorious City of Lights, will still be shining bright, as will every

other city like it while you will be as dust along with the ragbag of

fascists, Nazis and Stalinists that have previously dared to challenge

our democracy and failed. Speaking of those who couldn't tell

their Chateau Latour from their Blue Nun, I'm joined on

the sofa tonight by a two-fingered Think of them as the 'eff' and the

'off' of late-night political chat. I speak, of course, of #fourpercent

Liz 'miserables' Kendall... And #sadmanonaTGV Michael

'choo choo' Portillo. Your moment related to the terrible

events in Paris and the aftermath? It is almost invidious to choose a

moment because the suffering of so many people has been so intense. One

moment that was described and struck me was a lady at the rock concert

who fell under a man who had been murdered, I think a large, heavy

man, and who lay there for about the next two hours listening to others

in the concert hall being shot and listening to explosions, and aware

that they were going round checking on who was dead and who was

attending to the dead. She was pretending to be dead, and yet she

survived. Unimaginable to go through such experience. The response of the

French police and the French forces, the numbers they were able

to deploy, the swiftness and determination of their response and

sheer bravery. I know some people who work in the French police, and

their bravery, to me, and what they have to face and go through is

something that really I have found for some this week. I think the

French people would probably agree. Now, in response to Friday's mass

murder in Paris, the French launched further air strikes on the Islamic

State stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. President Hollande says

his country is at war and vowed to In Britain the question of how to

eradicate the threat is proving controversial and debate rages over

whether we should bomb Islamic State But would further air

strikes be enough? Our former Commander in Afghanistan,

and expert on counter-insurgency, Colonel Richard Kemp doesn't think

so. In the wake of the attacks in Paris

last Friday, the West is left with a choice. We can either stand and

fight or we can roll over and let As Manuel Valze,

the French Prime Minister said this weekend, we have been hit by

an act of war organised methodically The faint-hearted, fearful of

further jihadist attacks, advocate appeasing the Islamic State,

but that will not stop the radicals This is no time for fear,

Islamic State must be crushed. France was right to order immediate

retaliatory air strikes against the Islamic State in Syria,

and now is the time for concerted But in the entirety

of military history, air power alone has never been enough to defeat

military forces that hold ground. We need boots on the ground in Iraq

and in Syria. Yes, there will be a cost,

probably in the form of civilian casualties, military deaths and

the provocation of further attacks. We allow

the Islamic State to flourish We also need to take decisive action

at home where opinion polls show frightening levels of support

for the Islamic State Anybody who leaves to fight

for the Islamic State in Syria or Iraq should not be

permitted to come back home. And anybody who is not a citizen

of the UK who represents a threat These measures may sound Draconian,

but in the face of blood lust and subjugation,

the cause is worth the casualties. I would prefer to see decisive

action than innocent men, women and children dying bleeding

in our streets. And from toy soldiers to our Dad's

army here in Westminster, Before we come to the points in your

film, you are a counter-terrorism expert. Has there been a serious

failure of French intelligence? Were you saying I was Dad's Army? I think

there has been a failure of security and I don't know what you attributed

it to. You have to look at position of France as a nation, with open

borders all around it. And lots of countries all around. Exactly. We

are fortunate in that we have maintained the control of our

borders. The French have not. People are moving in and out with impunity.

That is one of the biggest problems. One of the main issues is

the fact that there are so many targets in France for French police

and intelligence services to handle. There are thousands of people

involved in radical activity, many hundreds of which have been out to

fight in Iraq and Syria and have come home very dangerous people.

Battle hardened. They have blood on their hands, have taken part in

killing. Once they have done that, it is much easier for them to kill

again, as we saw on Friday. It did seem surprising that the ringleader,

Abdelhamid Abaaoud was a known terrorist, subject to an

international arrest warrant, yet able to move easily between Syria,

France and Belgium. I know it is hard for intelligence forces, but

that has to be filed under failure. I agree, but more a failure of the

government and intelligence services. The government needs to

close borders and control movement in and out. Sheng and should be

gone? It should, I think. There are lessons to be learned by the police

and intelligence services in coordinating between different

countries but my experience of French intelligence is that they are

extremely effective. Like everyone else, they make errors because

intelligence is far from an exact science. Michael, is Richard Kemp

right when he says where attacks alone have never been enough to

defeat those who hold the ground, so to defeat IS, we boots on the

ground? Undoubtedly you need some boots on

ground. We have to make an accord with the Russians. Richard Kemp

mentioned NATO but it has to be beyond NATO. If we were able to deal

with Stalin during the war, I don't see why we can't deal with Putin

now. Having established a coalition, then I think we need to look at what

our resources are. I mean, there are people fighting on the ground.

There's Assad's army fighting on the ground, there are Kurds fighting on

the ground, I think we need to assess what their capabilities are.

There's the Iraqi army to some extent? I think the present

situation clearly is one in which hundreds of people are moving

between the United Kingdom and other EU countries and Syria and coming

back battle-hardened as colonel Kemp describes it and therefore represent

a threat and so it's our duty to see whether we can close down the Syrian

situation. All of this is pie on the sky because it seems to me there is

no prospect of President Obama participating in an operation which

involves allies boots on the ground so I fear for the moment that we are

dreaming about these situations. I think I would say in the first

instance, let us see what NATO plus Russia, plus Kurds, plus Assad plus

the others can put together. I think Michael is right about the need to

have an accord with Russia because Russia is now calling the shots in

Syria. We couldn't possibly deploy military forces into Syria to attack

the Islamic state wherever the forces come from without

coordinating with Russia. What is your response Liz? Ultimately, I

agree that ground forces may be required, the question though is

whether that can be provided by countries in the region and I think

that has got to be part of the thinking, certainly that the Prime

Minister does when he presents a strategy to Parliament, as he has

said he'll do. The problem is, it's difficult to find out who in the

region would be prepared to provide groundsportses, they are providing

air cover at the moment? That is right. We have seen what some

Kurdish forces are able to do with air cover. Whether their role can be

expanded more broadly I think is open to question. But really a

long-term solution I think you are right ultimately ground forces will

be needed, but I don't see these coming from the UK or the US. Even

if you are right that you need to put boots on the ground, after Iraq

and Afghanistan, there's no political will to do that? And it

should be a last resort to deploy Western forces into Syria and Iraq

in any more numbers than they are now. What we haven't explored fully

enough is the use of some of the Sunni tribes in Syria and Iraq in a

similar way to General Perreus did prior to Al-Qaeda. That is an area

that should be one of the first options. I don't think the use of

the uredz many one wider area... They have no appetite and the

problem of the Sunni tribes is that the Shia-led government in Baghdad

abandoned them, didn't treat them well? And that has to be addressed.

In Syria, the same kind of tribal structures exists across the border.

Those would be the perfect people to do it if it could be arranged and

orchestrated. The next option, if that the is not possible is at least

limited but very severe hit-and-run operations by western forces if

necessary. To degrade their command and control

of supply lines? Yes, I don't think we should be in the business of

deploying massive forces to hold ground and to control the country. I

think the problem is if we don't deal with Islamic state now, is not

just what they are doing to people in the region, not just the fact

they are sending out groups to attack us in Paris and London, it's

also the inspiration they are giving to other extremists around the

world. If they are not shown to the fee feetable, if they continue to

show to be supermen, then that inspiration is going to get even

worse and can become a much bigger problem. Should the Prime Minister

go ahead and order bombing raids without a vote in the Commons?

Constitutionally he doesn't need it, maybe be subject to a vote of

confidence, but if he believes it's the right thing to do, if that is

what he says, shouldn't he do that and deal with the consequences of a

vote of confidence? Right now because of what's happened in Paris

and listening for instance to the sort of things Liz says and other

people and even listening to what Nicola Sturgeon's said, I think he

feels that he has a chance of winning the vote if he makes a

proper explanation in the House of Commons. That should certainly be

his first port of call. I think he will be in some difficulty if he

goes ahead without a vote in the Commons, if only because he's

pledged again and again that the vote in the Commons for him would be

decisive. I might say that, whether the

British participate in the air raids or not seems to me to make no

military difference but it makes a big psychological difference. The

reason the Prime Minister wants to participate is he feels he must be

alongside allies, the French and the Americans in particular and, as they

might become our allies in due course, the Russians too. If the

Prime Minister gives a credible case for extending British bombing into

Syria, would you vote for it, Liz? If it shows it's part of a wider

strategy, it's a commitment to some kind of Road Map to a political

settlement, humanitarian aid and crucially a real effort on

reconstruction which was the lesson we learned from Iraq, yes.

Are you confident that the West, with what allies it has in the

region, will step up to the plate here? Mr Hollande is trying to put

together a grand coalition, going to Washington, Moscow, not sure he's

coming to London. Are you confident this will be dealt with, because it

would seem to me that Islamic state, in control of Iraq and Syria, with

the oil and resources that has parts of it, is a much bigger threat than

Al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan? Absolutesly. I'm far from confident

we'll step up. President Obama has no appetite to engage in this fight

with US military forces. He's stepped up the air attacks though?

Still pretty token though, it's half hearted, it's not done what it needs

to have done and, even if it's intensified much greater than it is

at present, I still don't believe air attacks alone with going to deal

with Islamic state. There has to be preferly ground it's sportses but

backed up. -- ground forces. Now it's late - Ken Livingstone

late - which means we unreservedly apologise for insulting your

intelligence with tonight's show. But just like Ken,

if you think we actually mean it, And don't forget,

if you'd like to scrawl your digital always have a home on The Twitter,

The Fleecebook, and Gordon Brown's Now, what could be more French than

defying terrorism On Tuesday night, with

the city still in shock, Parisians did just that, as they flocked to

local restaurants in a uniquely It was all part of a social media

campaign called Tous Au Bistrot to show that the terrorists

hadn't changed their way of life. So without much persuading,

we did our bit, and sent the BBC's John Pienaar down to London's

oldest French restaurant, Mon Plaisir in Covent Garden, for our

own little display of solidarity. This is his roundup

of the political week. OK, there are more ways of showing

solidarity with our French neighbours than just having lunch,

but hey, we are all Parisian now, and that means loving life, loving

good food and wine, loving freedom. And just now it also means we are

defiant, and just a bit afraid. Just one sixth of us think bombing

the fanatics in Syria will make us Today, another says three out

of four of us want to do it anyway. When the terrorists attacked that

theatre and those restaurants, Carrying on

as normal is one way to show David Cameron has wanted to strike

at Isil, wherever they are, for months, and

since Paris the mood has changed. France and

the USA want Britain more involved. Two years ago,

Cameron wanted to bomb in Syria. This time, he is forcing

the pace towards a vote that he We face a direct

and growing threat to our country and we need to deal with it,

not just in Iraq but in Syria too. I've always said there is

a strong case for us doing so. Our allies are asking us to do this,

and the case for doing so has only grown stronger

after the Paris attacks. At the present time,

the issue of the bombing of Syria does not seem to me to be

the right way forward on this. There's another reason

David Cameron's looking more More and more Labour MPs are finding

more and more reasons to say, When he told the BBC didn't like

the idea of shoot to kill against One Shadow Cabinet minister told me,

"It's as if Jeremy lives on another Another, publicly,

put it a bit more diplomatically. In those very difficult

circumstances, where there is an immediate threat to life, you are

trying to stop more people being killed, it is right, within our

procedures, to use lethal force in order to protect those who were

cowering on the floor of that concert hall, and I think

that would be widely supported. If he thought that,

why didn't he say it? Relations between Jeremy Corbyn

and so many of his MPs have gone They agree to disagree on just

about everything, And when he appointed Ken

Livingstone to help oversee defence Then Ken Livingstone

said one pro-Trident MP It turned out he had a history

of depression. You could see he would have

to say sorry in the end. Well, I haven't been in Parliament

for 15 years, so I've no idea But it's completely unacceptable

for a Labour MP to attack Jeremy Corbyn's appointments

in this abusive way. When someone was rude to you,

you were rude back to them. Well, I'm from south London

and we're not all rude. Not even all Millwall fans,

who like to say, "No one likes us, I wonder if they sing that in

Jeremy Corbyn's office Terrine de campagne,

s'il vous plait. George Osborne has one thing in

common with Jeremy Corbyn, just one. They would both quite

like to be Prime Minister. Just now, more people probably think

George Osborne has more of a chance, including him, as he plans strategy

on just about everything, Isil are already using

the internet for hideous propaganda purposes, for radicalisation,

for operational planning, too. They have not so far been able to

use it to kill people by attacking our infrastructure

through cyber attack. They do not yet have

that capability. So, more money for security,

which sounds popular. But that also means more cuts,

which means trouble. Osborne has to square colleagues

like Theresa May, who also And she won't take cuts to

police budgets quietly. Oh, and the Leader of

the Opposition's on the case, too. Will he be able to tell us

whether or not this community policing and other police budgets

are protected or not As well as wanting resources, the

police want the appropriate powers. And hasn't it come to something

when the leader of Her Majesty's opposition thinks that the police,

when confronted by a Kalashnikov-waving terrorist, isn't

sure what the reaction should be? Well,

they can all slug it out next week. I've got some solidarity to share,

which may be easier than getting MPs to stand shoulder to shoulder

on where to bomb Isil, and a lot easier than getting

a peace plan together for Syria. If only I could remember

the words to the Marseillaise. And from Mon Plaisir restaurant

in Covent Garden to our own little bistro here in the

heart of Westminster, we're joined Is it your view that when things,

like what happened in Paris last weekend, take place, that that's

Western foreign policy largely to blame? I don't know about largely,

it's partly to blame. It comes out of a Swatch of alienation, and in

France, there are many elements to it that don't exist at least yet

here. France has a very aggressively secular policy banning certain modes

of Islamic dress and so on, so there are particular grievances. Also the

socioeconomic position of Muslims and other minorities in France

who're kind of banished to the real slums, worse slums than we have

here. These are all places where these grievances fester, but of

course, there isn't any doubt that France's long history as an imperial

power, our history more recently in Iraq and most of our recent

histories in Iraq and Lynn ya, for example, is in the mix. Is the

Russian foreign policy to blame? Mr Lavrov is the most accomplished

diplomat in the world today. I think most people in their private moments

would agree with that. I agreed with Michael in every particular. We need

to make a coalition with Russia and deal a decisive series of blows to

this death cult and indeed I said this on your programme exactly one

year ago. I remember. And... What would that coalition consist of the

we were to build a Western-Russian coalition?

People talk about a ground war, there is already one and people have

been fighting it for most five years. That is why we have to

support those that are fighting that ground war. That means Iraq, Syria

and the Kurds, and the others can supply air power but they are not,

as you put it correctly, going to send soldiers in. None of them,

Saudis, Jordanians, none of them are going to send soldiers in. But the

Syrian Army can do it themselves if we stop supplying the other side, if

we stop the Saudis and the Turks either facilitating, or in the case

of the Saudis, actually paying for the men and material that have been

fighting this war for almost five years. Who are the Saudis paying?

What they would call moderate fanatics, people who only eat half

your heart, or cut half your head off. The local Al-Qaeda affiliate,

as you well know. Insofar as there is any difference between these

groups, Isis merely take the weapons and money off them, because they

defect. What do you think of what George is saying? Well, I was quite

pleased with much of what George said. I thought he would come from a

rather different point of view, because when he got to the point of

saying we need to deal a decisive blow, that is where he and I united.

This question about to deal a decisive blow, that is where he and

I united. This question about what extent petition or French foreign

policy or Western foreign policy influences things, I think is a moot

point. It is worth remembering that the worst atrocity of all, 9/11, was

committed before Iraq, before Afghanistan. It was after a war in

Kuwait, where we had expelled the Iraqis, at the wish of the Kuwaiti

people and with the support of the Saudis and the Egyptians and the

Syrians. It was hardly an anti-Muslim war. But all of that is

pretty much water under the bridge and I dare say many Muslims think

what happened in Iraq and Afghanistan is a source of

grievance. However, what is in the mind of the terrorist goes well

beyond that. It is actually about destroying our way of life. I would

like to make a distinction between that and an excess tension threat. I

think the word existential threat is being used loosely. It is true these

people want to destroy us and if they were successful our existence

would be in question, but they don't have the capability to destroy us.

We have not lost as many Europeans in acts of terror yet as we lost on

one day in New York. And an excess tension threat existed in this

country during World War II, throughout the Cold War, and those

are real existentialists threat. 50 million Europeans died in World War

II and we could have been annihilated in the Cold War at any

time. This is not of that order. Andrew, in his peerless thunder at

the beginning of the show, Count opposed the achievements of French

civilisation with a couple of bar owners from Belgium who came and

shocked a lot of people who did not have guns and could not defend

themselves. That is not an existentialists. This is a murder

gang, a death cult. It consists of some thousands of people. We are

millions. And don't forget this, the great majority of people killed

Al-Qaeda and Isis have been Muslims. And the great majority of

Al-Qaeda and Isis have been Muslims. fighting them in Syria are Sunni

Muslims. fighting them in Syria are Sunni

was a week when we should fighting them in Syria are Sunni

believe, showing both solidarity with France and a focus on the

safety of British citizens, and I don't think the leadership of our

party rose to that challenge this week. It ended up being dominated

with comments made that retrospectively had to be clarified,

and ended in a kind of offensive comment that Ken Livingstone made. I

believe it is not just bad for the Labour Party but for the country,

which needs an effective opposition that questions, probes, pushes, and

shows how we can help make the Government's responds the best that

it can be, and I don't think we lived up to that this week. What do

you make of Jeremy Corbyn's response? You would never confuse

you make of Jeremy Corbyn's with a liberal, and I think that on

these matters one has to be iron and steel heart. One has to say, if

anyone comes here with guns and bombs, our police will shoot them

down and stop them. There is no room for equivocation about that at all.

Of course, a shoot to kill policy in general is a bad idea. That brings

back thoughts of Northern Ireland. Indeed, all what Israel does in the

occupied territories. Apart from being wrong, they don't work, they

make more terrorists. But what the Labour leadership should do is to be

absolutely clear that when it comes to the safety and defence of our

people in our own island, our own streets, then the police will have

the full backing of the political leadership to gun them down if

necessary. I would shoot them myself with my own hands, I would pull the

trigger myself, I would be happy to see them all dead in the street.

These people are just about the most horrific group of people I have ever

seen in my long political life. And I am damn sure I am not going to sit

idly by while they are running around up and down Piccadilly with

guns and bombs. Are you by any chance available to leave the Labour

Party? Not at the moment! Has Mr Corbyn asked you to come back? No, I

think he has quite a few problems on his hands internally and probably

does not want to add to them. And what would I be going back to, the

Labour Party of Jeremy Corbyn, or the Labour Party of some others,

present company excepted, because I have absolute admiration for Liz

Kendall, a person of principle and bravery. But the backstabbers who

are constantly trying to undermine him from behind the Arras, to

continue our French theme. Are you surprised that Mr Corbyn, in some of

his appointments, most of his personal appointments, has not

reached out more to the centre of the Labour Party? Is he trying to

provoke a coup? I don't think it needs much provoking, it has been

underway since that hour that he was declared, and most of the centrists,

of course, the most competent ones, ruled themselves out of serving in

the Labour cause, preferring the backbenchers. I think he made a big

mistake appointing Hilary Benn as Shadow Foreign Secretary. He is now

a sword of Damocles over the Corbyn leadership. And a former star,

Michael's former so far partner, Diane Abbott, could easily have been

given that job, a woman, a black woman, an experienced, long-standing

parliamentarian and a key ally of his. She should have been given that

job. We learned tonight that Theresa May is digging in against further

cuts to the police, because we have the competence of spending review

next week. That is a wise move in the current circumstances for a Tory

Home Secretary, I would suggest, and a tough one for the Chancellor. You

are probably right. It would be quite difficult for the Home

Secretary to give way on police budgets just at the moment. Of

course, in many of these discussions, what you spend on

things is not really what counts, it is what you get out the other end,

the effectiveness of what you spend. Even so, it is tough politics, I

would say. 17,000 to the Interior Ministry has been added in France.

Nonetheless, having been said... 5000 coppers are missing from London

at a time when we need 15,000 more coppers on the streets in London and

more of them armed in the centre of London. The French can do a lot more

than we can. I have to stop. It is such an important issue but we have

one final item. Thank you. Now, we represent a broad spectrum

of views here on This Week. Michael has always kept a wary eye

on his former Conservative comrades. Diane was always more than happy to

roll her critical-eyes at the And now that Liz has kindly lost

the leadership election in order to join us here on the sofa; she'll no

doubt repay the favour to But when it comes to television,

how do you navigate the tricky political waters of religion,

in particular Islam, especially We're not sure but that's why we're

putting representation I might even get

my own parking space at the mosque. He's the dysfunctional dad who

invites British Muslims to laugh Does the sitcom also provide

an alternative Muslim narrative, a mainstream challenge to

the extremist idealogy that lacks Sensitivities abound, representing

religion can be a tricky business. An episode of EastEnders won

plaudits this week when a young Muslim character told his girlfriend

why the Koran to him means peace. That to me is what Islam is about -

be kind to people, family What about the much-loved winner

of this year's Bake Off? Nadya, a Great British inspiration

who triumphed in the TV talent show. A proud mother of Bangladeshi

origin, she says she isn't just Let's watch telly,

Border Control is on, one It's certainly a broad church,

telly, but when it comes to depicting religion, especially

Islam, are we really doing enough to Those who worship at the altar

of this week, take your pew. Welcome to the programme. Thank you

very much. Was there a purpose behind Citizen Khan, about trying to

change the view of Islam among ordinary British Muslims and

non-Muslims? Not really. Essentially, I have a desire to do

comedy. I wanted to do a British comedy. That bit succeeded. Some

would disagree, but that is fine, too. As a by-product, it is

fantastic... Comedy has the ability to humanise communities, and you are

constantly looking for common traits, universality. Especially

when you are on BBC One. If you get to a point when people can connect

with a British Muslim Pakistani father, that is a good thing. So

they laugh at the same things, the same concerns. Yes. Is there a

difficulty at the moment in that over the decades Christians have got

used to being the butt of jokes. Is that true of British Muslims? It's

not, and I think that is probably one of the things. There isn't a

history of British Muslim comedy, or Muslim comedy. There are comedies,

even in places like Iraq. There is a satire show that satirises Isis.

That happens, there is a history of it. But because it is a new and

sensitive area, certain Muslims, a certain paranoia enters and they

feel that maybe Citizen Khan is part of some sort of conspiracy to bring

down Muslims, and it isn't. Have you had kickbacks, from sections of the

non-Muslim community, why have we got to have a Muslim comedy, or from

the Muslim community, why are we the butt of these jokes? I get it from

both ends. I get bigots from the far right to complain and also from the

far left to complain, which would be means I'm doing something right.

Sometimes they are quite good enemies to have. I think so. Citizen

Khan calls himself a community leader. In a sense, I saw that, and

this is true of all communities, there are people who think they are

speaking for everybody. And I have to be careful sitting here doing

that very thing. The one thing connecting it to my faith was that I

remember after the bombings in London and 9/11 I would see the

local news station get the guy with the longest ear, place him in front

of a mosque and ask about something 5000 miles away. -- the longest

beard. I am urgently get back in the edit suite and say, he was amazing,

but who was he? He is not a member of anything, let's think of a title

for him. He was in the community, let's call him a community leader.

That was Mr Khan. And he has a silly hat. When the script is being

created are there times when you think, I had better not go there?

That is a good joke but we probably should not do it? Not really. In all

comedy, you have to have a character who is slightly monstrous, who says

the things you don't want to say. We write a 30 minute show and the

journey is that he does the wrong thing but in the end he does the

right thing. So he has to be monstrous and we allow our character

to have that voice. The show has created a very different image from

what a lot of people would like to stigmatise and the rest of it, but

Nadiya Hussein, that was quite an amazing and symbolic event. It was

brilliant, one of those moments when you heard people on social media

brilliant, one of those moments when saying the same thing, Muslim or

non-Muslim, saying they felt proud to be

non-Muslim, saying they felt proud That is fantastic. What I

non-Muslim, saying they felt proud part of the counter narrative, that

is important. Similar with Moeen Ali opening the batting for England,

with a longer beard than Mr Khan. We could do with a few

with a longer beard than Mr Khan. We Alis. All of that is positive. One

in five of your constituents identify themselves as Muslims. With

terrible events like this and people looking for someone to blame,

overall should we be reasonably optimistic about the state of our

relations, the position of optimistic about the state of our

Muslim community in Britain, communities, because it is not one?

People are really worried when events like last week happen,

worried about what's going to happen to them, if attacks are going to

happen back. That's why we need far more different various, an explosion

of different representations more different various, an explosion

the media, because that is life. And it is true.

the media, because that is life. And thought. I would pick up that

thought. For the moment, the lack of integration of the Muslim community

is reflected in their lack of appearance in the media. And also by

an unwillingness to tackle real issues. The issues we have been

talking about this evening, radicalisation, whether kids are

travelling to Syria, have these things been treated, for instance in

drama on the BBC or ITV? I am not aware they have. There may be an

opportunity there. How many shows how to run? There are five more and

it is on tomorrow night at 7:30pm, one of the few times a Muslim will

be on this week who is not a terrorist.

That's your lot for tonight folks, but not for us, because it's

Parliamentary Labour Party night at Lou Lou's and we're off to join

in all the fun, whilst Diane Abbott writes a stack of Christmas Cards

But we leave you tonight with a heavy sedative and proof -

if proof were really needed - that the Labour movement really has

Nighty night, don't let Comrade Corbyn's man-hole bite.

I got this from my mother, an interest in the social history

If you walk around and look at drain covers, you'll see in London, MWB,

That gives you the age of it because the Metropolitan Board of Works

If you look at Post Office telegraphs, that will tell you

Look at LCC tramways, look at the same in Glasgow, in Edinburgh.

So you see a history of public utilities in drain covers, and