I represented more Muslims than any other Conservative MP for the best part of a decade in High Wycombe from 2001 until 2010. I was elected a few months before 9/11, and stood down after a procession of horrors: the Afghanistan war, the Iraq conflict, 7/7, 21/7, the attack on Glasgow airport, two major conflicts between Israel and Hamas and one between Israel and Hezbollah. The first house in which I lived in the constituency turned out to be close by the home of the quartermaster of a plot to blow up a transatlantic aircraft.
During the 25 years that have passed since I was first elected, most British Muslims have been quietly getting on with their lives – like everyone else. But our common life together, in key respects, is getting worse rather than better.
Islam does not play well with others.
