So where's the story?

With a headline line "Face to face with the men of hate" you might be forgiven for thinking the Daily Mail had a scoop. An inside line on the life and times of Saiful islam, maybe even Anjem Choudary or dare we hope, Omar Bakri?  Read on and discover new insights into the men that have been plaguing Muslims in Luton for years now:

Face to face with the men of hate: The Muslim fanatics who attacked Baroness Warsi | Mail Online.

The fact is that they have no story here. As much as I find the cause of these men to be distasteful, I find the editorial policy of the Mail towards Muslims to be full of the same hate-filled venom. This is just prolonging the story of the attack on Baroness Warsi on Monday by dredging up old news from a place the Mail just loves to rubbish.

A quick look at the story:

1. The first few paragraphs repeat yesterdays story. Nothing new there.
2. "Yesterday, Baroness Warsi said there were only about 'seven, eight or maybe ten' protesters who did not represent the true feelings of the thousands of moderate Muslims in the town."  
3. "... she took refuge in the sweetly named Memsaab Boutique in Luton ..."  Ok, I am being picky but do we refer to say "Miss Selfridge"(or dozens of other such stores) as sweetly named?  Memsaab simply means "ma'am" or "honoured ma'am", and a google search reveals many shops by that name.  I actually find it a whole lot more dignified that something like "FCUK".
4. They then pose their question:  "But are they a tiny minority, or was the outbreak of violence a symptom of a wider problem: the failed integration into society of a group of Muslim extremists (many British-born)?" 
5. Then comes the old news or non-news: First, predictably -- The Royal Anglian march disrupted by Islamic protesters in March.
6. Then we are reminded of £600,000 of government Preventing Violent Extremism money put into Luton.
7. Then shock horror:  "The area has its own madrassa (faith school), Islamic primary school and shops selling halal meat and Asian clothes."  Wow. Muslim shops to serve a population of 35,000 or so Muslims!!   I cannot believe the inananity of that remark!
8. The next example takes the biscuit:  The opposition to a MECCA bingo hall sign in Bury Park. That is 11 year old news!
9. We are then reminded of attacks on non-Muslim homes in the area. While this is totally wrong it is still old (last years) news.
10. On this evidence we are told: "Sadly, the process of integration, which began back in the Seventies when thousands of families from the Indian sub-continent came to Luton to work at the Vauxhall car factory, seems to be failing."
11. With the words:  "It is against this tinderbox background that the anti-war agitators and Baroness Warsi's assailants must be addressed"  we launch into a short history of al-Muhajiroun, Omar Bakri, Anjem Choudary and the local Luton al-Muhajiroun group;  we  get the regular reminder that "Luton remains a 'magnet' for extremists and a focus of concern for anti-terror police" and are reminded of the trouble that has come from Luton in the past 8 years; we are reminded of Saiful Islam's groups support for 9-11; and their opposition to the Baroness. 
12. Finally, with the damage already done the truth is presented:  "Opposed to such sentiments, the mainstream, moderate Muslims fear that Luton has become a hotbed for young Islamic extremists ... A group of 15 or 20 protesters shouted at her...   'The majority of British Muslims are appalled about what happened to me in Luton,' she said yesterday."   It doesn't seem to add up. A hotbed = 15-20 people?  

While there are always qualifiers, as we had at the end of the article - if you get that far, the impression you are left with from reading this and so many other stories in the Mail is that the extremist view is much bigger than it is, and is unopposed.

The real news in these past two days is that there has been such a wide-spread response from Muslim people across Luton and the nation to condemn the actions of a few.