'Communities must prevent attacks'

Tony Blair has outlined a four-point plan for dealing with the security threat to Britain.

Answering questions in the Commons on Wednesday, the prime ministers said there were no current plans to divert from the planned timetable on updating anti-terror legislation in the light of the London bombings.

But he said the efforts must go further than acts of parliament and into "the Muslim community itself" following news that the suspected bombers were British-born Asian suicide bombers.

First, Blair said the government would begin consultation with other main parties in the "next couple of weeks".

"Meanwhile we will use control orders under the existing legislation," he added.

Diversity

Second, Blair said ministers were looking at dealing with foreign terrorists in Britain and how best to deport them.

Third, said the prime minister, was the need for Britain's Muslim community to address the issues that led to last week's attacks.

"I think we all know that security measures alone are not enough to deal with this problem," he added.

"In the end this can only be taken on and defeated by the community itself. But we can all help."

Fourth, the prime minister said he wanted to "mobilise internationally the moderate and true voice of Islam".

"This is a small group of extremists. It should not be ignored but neither should it be allowed to characterise Islam," Blair argued.

Consensus

Conservative leader Michael Howard said: "What we now know is appalling to contemplate.

"It will take us a long time to come to terms with the fact that these atrocities appear to have been committed by those who were born and brought up in our midst.

"Those responsible for last week's carnage were not acting in the name of Islam but were perverting its teaching."

In a cross-party spirit of consensus, Howard also joined the condemnation of attacks on mosques.

"Anyone who reaches out for a stone to throw at the window of a mosque... is the enemy of all of us because they would be acting in the way the terrorists want us to act, helping them to achieve their objective of dividing us, one from another," he said.

Charles Kennedy also spoke of the "shared sympathy that we all have" for those suffering the loss of friends and relatives.

The Liberal Democrat leader said there was a "sense of national dismay" that the terrorists were British.

"This is not simply an issue for the Muslim community alone, it is an issue for all of us who share this country and share British citizenship," he told MPs.

Community

Leicester MP Keith Vaz reported to the prime minister "over 100 reported race hate attacks on members of the British Asian community".

He expressed concern that the attacks could "imperil the diverse and multicultural society that is Britain today and the envy of the world".

Shahid Malik of Dewsbury, where two homes were raided on Tuesday, said the attacks were the most "profound challenge that British Muslims have faced".

Blair said that he "entirely agreed" with both MPs and that the words would "give heart to the Muslim community".

Earlier Blair met four Muslim Labour MPs in Downing Street to discuss the latest developments.

Malik, Tooting's Sadiq Khan, Glasgow Central's Mohammad Sarwar and Khalid Mahmood of Birmingham Perry Barr expressed their "shock" at the news that the suspected culprits were British-born suicide bombers.

The prime minister's official spokesman said "this was very much at their request to discus the developments of yesterday".

"They said they believe the Muslim community must show leadership in tackling this form of terrorism and that it has to be tackled from within the community," he said.

"They also said there was a need to take this forward with other communities and asked for the prime minister's backing which he strongly gave.

"The prime minister's strong view is that recent events should not be used as an excuse for a backlash against the Muslim community."

Number 10 added that the government would be in consultation with the police and other authorities to see if they felt any new legislation was necessary in the light of the news.