Claims of MI5 blackmail suggest that for Muslims, the presumption of innocence is no longer a right but a privilege

It recently emerged that MI5 has been busy – not encouraging Muslims to work in concert with the authorities to root out extremism, but "blackmailing" Muslims to provide intelligence. This is a truly disturbing development, but one sadly stemming from a wider misguided strategy of engaging with the Muslim community.

Commentators – including Zin Derfoufi who wrote on this topic earlier in the week – have failed to appreciate the severity of these latest allegations or have drawn inappropriate comparisons with previous issues engulfing the Muslim community. Let there be no ounce of doubt. These allegations will cause the gravest level of discomfort amongst Muslims – more than any other issue past – and rightly so. It frankly beggars belief.

Young men say they were detained by MI5 agents simply by virtue of the fact that they were Muslim...

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