One statement does not a moderate outlook convey. He also makes a false equivalence: nobody is ‘forced to remove’ their hijab in France or elsewhere, unless the law or custom dictates it. However, there are plenty of girls in the UK who are forced to wear it from puberty and sometimes beforehand. By making it into some sort of liberty issue, which I might add has been the popular Islamist stance, he hopes to court the sympathetic libertarian in all of us, but we should not allow him this intellectual sleight-of-hand. After all, there are plenty of taboos which have helped to reinforce social norms and dress codes in the UK: I would never dream of walking down the street naked or wearing a large phallus on my head, indeed it’s quite possible I could be prosecuted for such behaviour. There are advocates for nudity and extreme libertarianism too, but should we as a society indulge their minority whims?

When Saeed comes out and advocates Muslim girls marrying and having relationships with non-Muslim men then I might be convinced of his supposed commitment to moderation. Until then, the jury’s still out.

Granted he said this in 2004, would be interesting to see if he has changed his mind on that….