It is said that a week is a long time in politics but a year's not long enough.

British Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has two years left before having to face the British electorate. Born and bred Tory that I am, I should not really be telling him where he should find success in focusing his wrath against extreme Islamists. Still, it is the season for generosity, Britain is greater than any one political party, and he's been having a tough time of it lately (what with the Tory resurgence, which promises much for Britain - alas, little for him - for 2010). 

All I ask is that Brown manages to achieve the following ten goals in 2008 - not hundreds of measures as some would ask for - just these ten measures which, long and short term, will likely make Britain a much safer place:

(*NB where I refer to Islamists and Islamism I am talking about the Muslim Brotherhood variety which so afflicts not just Britain but, alas, much of the planet - I am not referring to true, decent Muslims who happen to get involved in political activities)

1.      Stop talking to the Islamists

There are still in existence small, male-only groups, such as the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and Muslim Association of Britain (MAB) which your ministers' departments deal with on a day-to-day basis, Mr Brown. These groups - full of men who are united in their goal - who masquerade as being "representative" of British Muslims and snipe at Britain wherever they can. They are not representative of British Muslims - they are part of an implacable Islamist enemy which seeks to subvert and infiltrate British life so that their tainted view of Islam eventually dominates amongst Muslims in Britain, and then dominates Britain.

I was heartened to hear the words of Australia's former Gold Coast Islamic Society president this month, a year after the Miss Teen Australia incident. It was a year ago that a Muslim teenager, Ayten Ahmed, generated a wave of controversy by entering the Miss Teen Australia beauty contest. Then aged sixteen, the Melbourne schoolgirl was condemned by Muslim leaders when she entered the competition, with Melbourne cleric, Sheik Mohammed Omran, branding participation by Muslim girls as "a slur on Islam".

In the past the battle between the burkha and the bikini has on the whole been an unnecessary one - one predominated by men arguing over women's rights (or lack of them) - and Mr Abdul's words are refreshingly enlightened this time round.