The following book review was originally published in the Evangelical Review of Society and Politics 1.2 (2007), 60-1.

Londonistan: How Britain is Creating a Terror State Within, by Melanie Phillips. London: Encounter Books, 2006. 200pp hb, 208pp pb. £14.99/$25.95. ISBN 1594031444 hb, 1-59403-197-5 pb. Reviewed by Chris Lazenby

Melanie Phillips’s Londonistan is not particularly aimed at Christians but is a book which probably all Christians will find informative to some degree.  Phillips mounts a fearless (and in places searing) attack on what she sees as Britain’s apparent sleepwalk into the sacrificing of its culture beneath the tramping feet of a relentlessly advancing Islamism. Of course, some Christians will not agree with all of Phillips’s analysis of the current politico-religious situation in Britain. But, nevertheless, it is refreshing to find someone with the courage to give us an alternative view of the current British landscape; one which counters the well chanted mantras of most politicians and the politically correct branches of the media. 

In the first chapter of Londonistan, Phillips points out that the official number of Muslims in Britain currently stands at 1.6 million, this figure being likely to be higher when illegal immigration is taken into account.  But even the official figure makes Islam the second biggest faith group in the UK today, where more people now attend a mosque each week than attend an Anglican church. This Islamic faith group, along with its culture may be largely peace loving as Phillips reminds us, but nevertheless, for many - especially younger Muslims - there is a growing unrest with western culture and its values. This unrest is fuelled, claims Phillips, by a sub-culture which includes radical preaching and the distribution of literature, videos and DVDs which are both critical of the west and often fiercely anti-Semitic. The resulting picture is one of dissatisfaction and a desire amongst many within this group to undermine the (mostly secular) western way of life, and replace it with Islamic culture and laws.

Perhaps one of the most disturbing things about the book is the evidence Phillips presents which reveals Britain as a country in denial.  As she points out, until the bombings of 2005, preachers of hate such as Abu Hamza were treated as ‘little more than pantomime villains.’ Indeed, she demonstrates that Britain has been so lax in the past as to not only welcome those with extreme views, but at the same time to shower with benefits the very people who would threaten our national security. This cavalier attitude of the British establishment during the ‘80s and ‘90s led many of those working in the arena of national security on the continent to nickname Britain’s capital ‘Londonistan’, giving Phillips her ready-made book title.

One of the main factors which has fostered and allowed the current state of affairs to arise is, according to Phillips, the largely unquestioned acceptance of multiculturalism. Since the 1960s, Britain’s role as host culture to many immigrants has been downplayed to such an extent that today, any attempt to emphasise or bring out this host culture is seen as being ‘racist’. As a perfect example of this claim, Phillips quotes the Runnymede Trust, which, in 2000, said that there should not be ‘a fixed conception of national identity and culture’ and that ‘Britishness has systematically, largely unspoken, racial connotations.’

The Christian Church has deeply absorbed this seemingly accepted wisdom, and, according to Phillips, has not helped to improve the situation. On the Sunday which followed the 2005 bombing of the bus in London’s Russell Square for example, she quotes the priest of the nearby parish church as saying in his sermon: ‘There is one small practical thing that we can all do. We can name the people who did these things as criminals or terrorists. We must not name them as Muslims.’

According to Phillips, not only has the Church largely failed to speak out against the threat of militant Islam (in some quarters even accepting the argument that the west has brought 9/11 and 7/7 upon itself), but it has also failed to defend Britain’s Christian heritage. She quotes an Anglican bishop as saying (typically for the C of E) that ‘there is no one truth, and we all have to respect each others’ truths.’ Phillips goes on from this to observe that a church which can’t distinguish truth from error must no longer believe its own message to be true, and claims that the Church has abandoned the doctrines of Christianity and instead worships ‘social liberalism’. The Church has stopped being concerned with the salvation of souls, she says, and instead has started ‘trying to change society.’

Phillips has written a powerful and clear critique of militant Islamism and the failure of the west, especially Britain, to see the danger coming. For the most part, her criticisms of the Church have the painful ring of truth about them. However, some Christians will (naturally) find points at which they would take issue with her analysis of the Church’s place and role in Britain today. For instance, her point cited above, that the Church is ‘trying to change society’, would surprise most true Christians, who would surely respond by saying that part of the Church’s role is precisely to attempt to change society. There are a lot of British evangelicals too, who would raise an eyebrow on reading that they, unlike their American counterparts, have failed to speak out in defence of Israel.

Although Melanie Phillips is an intellectual, this book is not aimed at an academic audience. The book draws on primary sources but does not engage with secondary sources and academic literature which might explore in more depth some of the relevant issues. But for a book which is aimed at a wide readership this is, perhaps, to be expected. Londonistan is an important book; courageous, well written, well researched and well supported by quotations, referenced to several pages of endnotes. I recommend it to all Christians, whatever their theological stance. But be warned, it is neither easy, nor comfortable reading.

Chris Lazenby is Tutor in Theology at King's Evangelical Divinity School (formerly Midlands Bible College and Divinity School), United Kingdom.