Peter, I know your interest in pursuing this conversation any further is limited,

[Burney]

It is certainly how it read.

What you write above is not a new proposition. It’s the quintessential paradox of western political philosophy- freedom in the first person and freedom from the second.

The law has traditionally (not so much recently) tended to focus on the separation of thought from deed. You can believe any old cobblers you choose and it will not impact on my liberty unless you act on it. One could argue here that the problem is not that these men have an appalling attitude to young white girls, it’s that they acted on that by raping them. You may also blame me (or the liberals) for the fact that they felt that they would get away with it.

I could point out the irony of you challenging beliefs based on these outcomes while at the same time being ultra critical of any modern law that attempts to tell us what we are allowed to believe or attempts to criminalise any action that is deemed to be based on belief. Thus common assault is commonly a slap on the wrist- give the CPO the slightest notion that the assault may have been motivated by race and it becomes racially-aggravated public order with a possible two year prison sentence.

You can’t have it both ways. If we are to go down the road of telling people what they can and can’t think then we must all travel together. And of course that works both ways- I am not saying that it is fine to pass laws telling us we have to like benders while at the same time excluding Muslims from it.

This is, of course, a legal perspective. The rule of law MUST trump all other beliefs, faith-based or otherwise. That is surely the crucial difference between us here in the West (with our separation of church and state) and them in their various ****holes where religion still dominates or explicitly rules.

The rule of law, b. Always a vote winner

I'm aware that the proposition is not a new one. And I'm aware of the importance of the primacy of the rule of law. However, there are are a couple of wrinkles thrown up by Islam.

The most fundamental wrinkle is that in the increased and increasing Islamic presence in the UK we are dealing with an existential threat to the very society whose laws you wish to see upheld. It's not like the IRA, who just wanted a united Ireland, or the NF, who just didn't like darkies. We are dealing with a large and growing demographic, many of whom hold abhorrent views and hold no brief for our system, who will come to wield increasing democratic power in the years to come and will have an ever-increasing degree of influence over our law-making. This is not a theoretical possibility, it is, at current demographic trends, a statistical certainty.

So you see the primacy of the rule of law is a splendid notion, but that law is not immutable. It is going to change to suit the changing demographics. And, while you and I may be spared the worst of it, our children and grandchildren look likely to have to live with a very different - and much less liberal - society to the one in which we grew up. Already we are seeing how what we took to be liberal fundamentals - intolerance of anti-semitism, gay rights, women's rights, child protection - are being compromised and undermined to pander to muslim communities who choose not to observe such niceties.

Because, of course, the rule of law is only effective when the law is applied evenly and without prejudice. That is not the case at the moment. Blind eyes and deaf ears have been being turned to muslim communities for decades now, which has facilitated everything from fatwahs and mass rape through honour killings and female infanticide to female genital mutilation. These practices are taking place now and they are not being treated with the seriousness they deserve. Why? Because there is a fear of the charge of racism, but also because there's a vested interest for some politicians in allowing these practices to continue just so long as the votes keep coming.

This stuff is happening now. It's still early-ish days, but it's happening and it's getting worse rather than better. So what do we do? Sit back and watch as 1,500 years of progress is torn down in the name of diversity while telling ourselves how tolerant we are? Or shout that the building's on fire in the hope that someone - anyone - might listen?