Reid: We will not be beaten by terrorist bullies
John Reid delivered the penultimate speech at the Labour autumn conference
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Thursday, 28, Sep 2006 08:10
John Reid has today told every Briton to stand "shoulder to shoulder" in the fight against terrorism.
Delivering a stirring speech at the Labour party conference in Manchester, the home secretary told delegates that everyone needed to pull together in order to avoid being "browbeaten" by the "terrorist bullies" and terrorist sympathisers in Britain.
Referring to his recent visit to Waltham Forest in east London, where his speech to the local Muslim community was disrupted by a heckler who told him he should not be there, Mr Reid said there would be "no no-go areas in Britain".
"Waltham Forest may have been my first visit but it won't be my last," he said.
He added: "When the loudmouth advocates of terrorism tell me that we will not be allowed to visit this or that part of the community.my answer is simple. Yes, we will. There will be no no-go areas in Britain.
"We, all of us, all religions and all citizens, will go where we please. We will never be browbeaten by bullies. That is what it means to be British."
Mr Reid insisted that there was no "clash of the civilisations" but said that more must be done to support British Muslims in "facing down the bullies in their midst".
He also took a swipe at Conservative leader David Cameron, who he accused of being indecisive and lacking strong leadership.
"David Cameron may find that those who wait too long to see where the wind is going may be blown away," he said.
Mr Reid appealed to the Labour party for unity as the race to succeed prime minister Tony Blair heats up and dropped a broad hint that he himself would challenge for the Labour leadership.
The former health and defence secretary has been tipped by many to take on Gordon Brown as a potential successor to Mr Blair and today he made his clearest indication yet that he was indeed thinking of running.
He joked about former Labour deputy leader Roy Hattersley, a staunch supporter of old Labour values, bringing unity to the party by saying he would "shoot himself if I become leader of the party".
"I have to say that until that point I had not seen any advantages of standing," Mr Reid said.
Political analysts believe that Mr Reid, who is seen as one of Mr Blair's closest allies, would lose prominence were Mr Brown to become the next party leader because of his ties with the former government.
He is unpopular in some quarters because of his reputation as a hardline home secretary who has angered human rights campaigners by pushing through tough new anti-terrorism laws.