WASHINGTON, March 22 (IslamOnline) - Tory Leader William Hague heaped lavish praise on British Muslims for leading the fight against racism.
Hague, speaking to Muslim Council of Britain, opened his speech with Islamic greetings and said that Muslims and Tories shared common values of hard work and strong families.
He said that the Muslims have been in the forefront promoting values of faith and responsibility ever since they settled in Britain in the 16th century.
"Your values of strong faith, education, responsibility to others, of hard work and tolerance, are values which resonate with all our citizens in every part of this country," Hague said.
He also announced that he has appointed Mohammed Riaz, a Tory candidate from Bradford West, as adviser in his shadow cabinet on ethnic and cultural issues.
The announcement came in the wake of a recent speech by Hague in which he said that a Labor election victory would turn Britain into a "foreign land".
Tory sources said that he was referring to the threat posed by EU, and was not talking about racial issues.
