OT another terrorist attack.

[KerrAvon]

"Given the above, it makes sense for Subway and the like to use Halal. It prevents the need to have two different supply chains with the expense that goes with that." Wow. Just wow. It makes sense for us a country to stop doing things our way and do it in another way to pander to 5% of the population. And that makes sense to you.

Well, that's only the start. You won't agree, of course. You and millmoor and roly and the like will make all the excuses in the world, all the denials, and throw all the accusations.

But if we are already pandering to just 5% of the population with food, what's next? Sharia law will be on its way and everything that brings with it.

"If you don't want that, there's no need to get upset or feel dictated to - just don't buy it." So what about schools and hospitals? We ARE being dictated to if we want to eat a meal in a hospital or if we want our children to eat a hot meal in schools.

You take the attitude that people shouldn't care if it's halal or not. Well then Muslims shouldn't care if it's halal or not then. Oh, but it's their religion. Bending over backwards to meet the needs of a minority, and fack the indigenous majority. But then, why did they move to a country that is non-Muslim, knowing they would have to eat non-halal meat?

And in the 60's when we had less than 2% of the country Muslim, what did they eat then? Presumably they were alright eating the same meat as the rest of us then? But once that percentage of Muslims rise in the country, suddenly we have to start serving halal only meat in schools and hospitals and many restaurants.

As I said, several of you will have your excuses, denials, accusations, but things like this are the first of many, many concessions.

One day you will see, or your children will. But by that time it will be too late. We will have a civil war or live under Sharia Law, or both. What a great future for this country because of people so desperate to bend over backwards to make allowances for the minority rather than the minority conforming with the majority.

What do you mean by 'doing things our way'. If you are talking about the pre-stunning of animals that are to be slaughtered, that only became a legal requirement in 1933 and from the outset there were exemptions for Halal and Kosher slaughter. With that being the case, I'd argue that the only way that 'our way' comes into it is that the legislation reflects the the tradition of tolerance that this country thankfully has. In any event pre-stunning with non-invasive methods is increasingly accepted as Halal.

I would imagine that Halal food has been available in the UK for as long as there has been a market for it, just as Kosher has been available for the much smaller British Jewish community.

Subway franchisees have a choice as to whether to operate as a Halal outlet or not. One assumes that is their own preferences and an assessment of their likely market that determines their decision. If they go Halal, they put a sign in their window and, in my experience, have a compliance certificate on display. In making their choice, franchisees are not being dictated to or bending over, they are exercising a business choice.

I haven't said that people shouldn't care about Halal. I was making the point that they generally don't - unless it suits their view of the world to do so, that is. If a person in a hospital that uses Halal meat doesn't want to eat it, they could act like grown ups, ask for an alternative or take the vegetarian option. Ditto schools.

Sharia law is available in the UK for divorce and dispute resolution, just as Beth Din courts are available for Jews. Neither you nor anyone else has to use them, you have a choice.

The bottom line is that whilst you may feel that Subway franchisees choosing to operate in a Halal fashion is the start of a descent into civil war, I don't.

You seem to have very little faith in Western culture. Personally, I think that it is traditional Islamic culture that will fail to survive the encounter. Perhaps ironically, one of the gateways to radicalisation is the identity crisis that many young Muslims feel as they are pulled in two different directions.