Last year I wrote about what I called the "disgusting misrepresentation of British Muslims," the publication of heavily biased opinion polls by apparently Islamophobic lobbying groups, that were quickly picked up and promoted by elements of the right-wing press. This week, I'm pleased to say that a group of British Born Muslims who saw that coverage and my article, got in touch to let me know that they've been going out and collecting evidence to help fight for the reputation of their community. Those who saw my first piece for Liberal Conspiracy know that I'm here to advocate science-based policy, so this week I want to explore the science of opinion polls, and look at how the evidence has been abused by a network of right-wing journalists and lobbying interests.

Continue reading at Liberal Conspiracy.

A headline in the Daily Mail the other day caught my eye: "One third of British Muslim students say it's acceptable to kill for Islam." The report breathlessly recounts the usual Islamophobic rhetoric, that Muslims think murder is great and want Sharia law across the world, attitudes I rarely see among my Muslim friends. The results were based on a YouGov poll that didn't appear in any of the other news sources I regularly scan, nor even on YouGov's website. Intrigued, I did a bit of digging, and what I found was quite disturbing.