According to a new Populus poll for The Times, two thirds of voters think Muslims must accept the principle of freedom of speech and the right of papers to publish such cartoons. But, true to liberal principles, they do not think that editors should publish them, out of respect for the Muslim community.

The nearly 1.6 million Muslims in Britain (more than three times the number of Jews) are a diverse group. Attitudes vary between those of Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Ugandan and Kenyan Asian origins, as well as recent refugees, often not used to being politically involved. It is hard to capture the nuances of such differences.

But a variety of polls exists about Muslim views. Populus was commissioned by a coalition of Jewish community groups to undertake a poll of 500 British Muslims between December 9 and 19 (of whom 30 per cent were in London and 55 per cent were aged between 18 and 34). The results have now been made available to The Times.

With caveats about sample size, the trends are clear. There is no single, agreed voice for Muslim opinion. More Muslims trust what they hear about what is going on in the Middle East from English-language Muslim channels (68 per cent) than from the BBC (58 per cent). As many people are likely to listen to the clerics at their local mosque to find out about the Middle East as tune in to the BBC. More are likely to turn to the English-language Muslim press (49 per cent) as to national newspapers (42 per cent).

A majority regard the Jewish community and its links to Israel with suspicion. More than half both think that it is right to boycott Holocaust Memorial Day and believe that the Jewish community has no interest in the plight of the Palestinians and has too much influence over British foreign policy.

Nearly two fifths (37 per cent) believe that the Jewish community in Britain is a legitimate target “as part of the ongoing struggle for justice in the Middle East”. Moreover, only 52 per cent think that the state of Israel has the right to exist, with 30 per cent disagreeing, a big minority. One in six of all Muslims questioned thinks suicide bombings can sometimes be justified in Israel, though many fewer (7 per cent) say the same about Britain. This is broadly comparable to the number justifying suicide attacks in ICM and YouGov polls of British Muslims after the July 7 attacks.

The YouGov poll revealed that a majority of Muslims do not believe that they are treated equally or fairly by British political leaders.

However, according to Populus, 12 per cent of 18 to 24-year-old Muslims believe that suicide bombings can be justified here, and 21 per cent in Israel. A fifth of all Muslims, and a quarter of men, say suicide attacks against the military can be justified, though only 7 per cent say this about civilians.

Supporters of violence remain a small minority, but a wide gulf remains over the fundamentals of freedom of speech and democracy.

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