Rod Liddle, yet again:

[Cameron] is setting himself up as a Koranic expert, much as did Blair, in being able to adjudicate as to what is the “real Islam”. Obviously the “Real Islam” isn’t people blowing themselves up, although a large proportion of Palestinians, Afghans and so on would argue that it is, as would one or two cadres sitting tight in their Keighley or Tipton bedsits. But ok, let’s give him that one.

No, let's not. Real Islam is about Jihad, up to and including blowing yourself up.

What about apostasy, then? The majority of Islamic states impose a penalty for giving up the religion, either through the state or sharia courts; imprisonment or death. Is this Real Islam or the “distorted version of the extremists”? It’s certainly the practice of the overwhelming majority of Islamic countries, and cleaved to by all four major schools of Islamic thought, even the comparatively liberal Hanafi. What about gays? More than 30 of the 50 or so Islamic countries persecute homosexuals with anything ranging from fines to beheadings. Again, all four schools of Islamic thought believe homosexuality to be haram and thus worthy of punishment. Are they Cameron’s fatuous “Real Islam”, or the other kind? What about rights of women, rights of Christians to practice their faith AND proselytise, what about being allowed to whisper that Allah’s a goon, or doesn’t exist? What about the attitude towards Israel and, more pertinently, Jews in general? Cameron’s “Real Islam” in truth consists of secular west Turkey and a few decent liberal Muslim organisations in the UK, a constituency which represents a minuscule proportion of the Ummah. You don’t “understand” Islam by making this false dichotomy; it is not just presumptuous and ignorant, but also plain wrong.

Not unusually, Cameron is talking out of his arse.

Much as I like the expression "talking out of his arse", I think it lets Cameron off the hook. So why does Cameron make stupid comments about Islam and tell wicked lies about Gaza? To answer this question, let's go back to 1964, when the then Prime Minister and always fork-tongued Harold Wilson attended a rally in the dockyard constituency of Chatham. To Wilson's rhetorical question, "And why do I emphasise my support for the Royal Navy?" a heckler replied, "Because you're in Chatham." And Cameron was in Turkey.

Of course it would be suicidal to let Turkey into the EU. However, Cameron knows that it will never happen. Turkey can either be democratic or secular, but not both. If it becomes democratic enough to satisfy the EU's rules, the army cannot step in as guarantor of secularism, and sharia can be voted in. If sharia is voted in, it will not satisfy the EU's requirements on human rights. So Turkey can never join the EU, and Cameron knows it. He can therefore score a few costless points against France and Germany, while, as he sees it, buttering up Turkey to keep it from siding with Iran. In this latter aim, Cameron shows his depthless ignorance of Islam - a Muslim country, even a nominally secular one, can never be a true ally of the West.

Incidentally, if wrangling over Turkish membership of the EU causes that thieving, corrupt, totalitarian monstrosity to disintegrate, well and good.