Reid defends British foreign policy

British foreign policy must not be dictated by terrorists, British home secretary John Reid said today amid renewed criticism of a call from leading Muslims for it to be changed.

Leading Muslim organisations and politicians signed an open letter to Tony Blair yesterday saying his stance on Iraq and the Middle East was providing “ammunition” to terrorists.

A shift in policy was required “to show the world that we value the lives of civilians wherever they live and whatever their religion” and make Britain a safer place, it said.

Downing Street said the prime minister “stands ready” to confront his critics when he returns from his summer holiday and defended his record on seeking peace in the Middle East.

Mr Reid – who has been leading the government’s response to the alleged airliner bomb plot – became the latest politician to attack the message of the letter.

“I’m not going to question the motives of anyone who has signed this letter, but I think it is a dreadful misjudgement if we believe that the foreign policy of this country should be shaped in part, or in whole, under the threat of terrorist activity if we do not have a foreign policy with which the terrorists happen to agree,” he told BBC News 24.

“No Government worth its salt would stay in power in my view and no government worth its salt would be supported by the British people if our foreign policy, or any other aspect of policy, was being dictated by terrorists.

“That’s not the British way, it’s antithetical to our very central values. We make decisions in this country by democracy not under the threat of terrorism.”

British foreign secretary Margaret Beckett had previously said yesterday that people who blamed Britain’s foreign policy for the terror threat were making “the gravest possible error”.

British transport secretary Douglas Alexander said it was “dangerous and foolish”.

Conservative Party politicians also weighed in to the dispute today. Shadow home secretary David Davis said that while opposition to foreign policy could be “part of the catalyst” behind terrorism – critics risked becoming “apologists” for their actions.

“It might be part of the catalyst but to explain this is not to excuse it,” he told Sky News.

“There are plenty of people with legitimate arguments with the government’s foreign policy in Iraq and Afghanistan, in Lebanon and the Middle East.

“But none of them take the stance of attempting to murder many thousands of their fellow citizens.

“These people who say these things aren’t setting out to be apologists for the terrorists but they end up providing a sort of apologia.”

Former Conservative Party leader Michael Howard said the letter was “completely misconceived” and accused its authors of trying to “blackmail” the British government.

The 38 Muslim groups which signed the letter include the Muslim Council of Britain, the Muslim Association of Britain, the British Muslim Forum, the British Muslim Forum and the Muslim Solidarity Committee.

Other signatories include three of the four Muslim MPs – Sadiq Khan, Shahid Malik and Mohammed Sarwar – as well as three of the four Muslim members of the House of Lords – Lord Patel of Blackburn, Lord Ahmed of Rotherham and Baroness Uddin.

Mr Khan said the British government’s current Middle East policy was seen by many people as being “unfair and unjust”, an impression that “plays into the hands of extremists”.

Lord Ahmed said the responses to the terror plot and to the Lebanon crisis showed “double standards” in terms of protecting innocent lives.