London, UK, November 12 – Today's Sunday papers are full of leading
politicians like David Cameron, Gordon Brown and John Reid playing
politics with security. The leading figures in the competition for the
future leadership of the Labour Party are battling it out to show who
would be tougher on crime and terrorism, while the Conservative party
are trying to counter Blair's propaganda that the Tories are 'soft on
terror'.

 
In a comment piece in the Sunday Times, David Cameron criticises the prolific law making of the government, calls for a 'minister for terror' and dedicated border police force and advocates the banning of non-violent Islamic groups, like Hizb ut-Tahrir. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Gordon Brown says that he supports the toughening of anti-terror laws and that he would take personal charge of the fight against terrorism if he becomes Prime Minister. John Reid uses a piece in the Sunday Telegraph to outline his security credentials, hoping that a Queen's Speech heavy on new anti-terrorism legislation will do his leadership prospects no harm.
 
Dr Imran Waheed, media representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, "The general public should find it alarming that leading politicians are playing politics with security – it seems that advocating draconian measures is the new strategy for ascending the political hierarchy. The public should be sceptical about this political expediency, especially given the record of politicians manipulating intelligence to send young soldiers to war in Iraq."
 
"David Cameron uses the head of MI5's speech to talk about combating 'fundamentalism' while even the head of MI5 said that it was important 'not to confuse fundamentalism with terrorism'. He also advocates the banning of Hizb ut-Tahrir, a non-violent Islamic group, for nothing more than its vocal criticism of the Iraq war and dictatorships in the Muslim world."
 
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