Caller’s "Good Extremism" Solution To Terrorism Is Truly Bizarre

21 August 2017, 12:51 | Updated: 21 August 2017, 12:55

Celia said everyone in London should wear stab vests and that white people should carry guns in response to the threat of terrorism.

New measures to fight terrorism, including more comprehensive checks for vehicle hire, have been proposed in the wake of last Thursday’s terror attacks in Spain.

Celia called in from Wembley and her proposal for responding to the threat was more far reaching - and much more extreme.

“We need lots of bollards everywhere," she said. "We need stab and bullet proof vests. People need to go into London with stab proof vests on… and people with a natural aptitude for using guns should carry them.”

Maajid suggested that such a blanket response to a threat which kills relatively few people was quite extreme.

“You can be extreme and good,” Celia said. “I don’t believe in all this radicalisation. I believe it’s genetic. They’re genetically prone to murder.”

Maajid posed another problem to Celia’s solution; if everyone’s walking around with stab vests and guns, then the police are going to struggle to tell the different between a terrorist and “someone defending the community.”

“Yes. Yes that could quite possibly happen. But you sort of have to weigh up the advantages and disadvantages."

To test this idea, Maajid suggested a possible scenario to see what Celia thought would happen.

“So a brown Muslim man, like me, puts on a bullet proof vest with a gun and claims I’m defending the community. How do you think people are going to react to that?”

“I wouldn’t allow that,” Celia said.

“Oh. Only white people carry guns then?” Maajid asked.

“Yes,” Celia replied.

Celia back-tracked slightly on arming just the white population, saying she might give guns to British Muslims as well, if she had enough information on them.

In response to this Maajid pointed out a fact that causes another problem for Celia’s “good extremism” solution.

“There’s a disproportionate number of converts in prison for terrorism offences who are white.”