Deeyah Khan

I'm a woman of colour. I am the daughter of immigrants. I am a Muslim. I am a feminist. I am a lefty liberal. ”

Through adopting radical extremism, some young men who previously felt humiliated and emasculated by their peers can now feel powerful and intimidating - and gain status, attention from young women, and the comradeship and solidarity of other young men like themselves. ”

Our society constantly promotes role models for masculinity, from superheroes to politicians, where the concept of being a 'man' is based in their ability to be tough, dominant - and even violent when required. ”

Making people fear the expression of their own power is a very effective way of disempowering them. It is not just those who feel the frustration of being silenced: it also encompasses every person who has no idea of their own power to realise their visions because they have not seen this in action in their communities. ”

Jihadis want to watch the world burn, to bring everything crashing down, to destroy the establishment and rebuild it after their own pitiless vision. This misguided utopianism is what makes them such effective bogeymen. ”

No one is born a terrorist, but the route to become one is surprisingly easy. We need to listen to those who have been there, and those who have made their way back, if we want to stop others from taking their first steps down this same path into darkness. ”

Britain has supported theocrats and dictators as long as it served British business interests, whether under Tory or Labour rule. ”

Rather than shutting down free speech, we need to broaden it, to make it possible for young people to say even the things we dislike so we can talk them down. And we need politicians to articulate a picture of the future that includes all of us. Not British values but shared human values. ”

If our values are worth anything, we should stand up for them and live by them, both within Britain and across the world. ”

Extremism is a complicated issue, but without addressing how it appeals to men and boys, we may be missing an important motivation and a way to address the problems in our towns and cities. ”