Baroness Sayeeda Warsi pelted with eggs by so-called Muslims.

The shadow minister for community cohesion was pelted with eggs at a visit to Luton yesterday. Baroness Warsi was taking part in a walkabout in the predominantly Muslim, Bury Park area of Luton when she was confronted by a group of protesters. The male protesters accused her of not being a proper Muslim and supporting the death of Muslims in Afghanistan.

The local police took over half an hour to arrive, parked their car down the road and failed to make any arrests following the assault.

The baroness said "What concerns me is that the government on the one hand talks about preventing violent extremism and talks about a cohesive society, and yet it allows people like that, people like Abu Hamza and Omar Bakri (about whom in the late '90s people like me were asking "Why are they preaching on the streets of our cities? Why are these people not taken off the streets?") . I absolutely believe in the freedom of speech but I do not believe in the freedom to divide and create hatred within communities. What matters to me more actually is not the names that they call me because I'm actually a Criminal Defence Lawyer from Yorkshire, I'm quite tough and I can deal with idiots like that in life. They started shouting and screaming. Our initial reaction was to move away but then I said to them "Let's have a debate." I always think a personal reaction is always a wrong reaction to have. I'm certainly not a Prescott! But they couldn't articulate what they wanted to say, they just wanted to be aggressive. You know one of the first things that the teachings of Islam teach you about is actually your conduct. The best way to represent Islam is through your conduct and your behaviour and I think most Muslims would agree that their conduct and their behaviour and their opinions do not represent the faith. I told them there was nothing in their conduct that was in accordance with the faith of Islam and that obviously touched a raw nerve with them."

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