This Muslim Weekly piece by Mike O’Brien is absolutely dispicable. Can you imagine the furore if this kind of thing had been published in the mainstream press:

Can anyone seriously imagine that Michael Howard or Charles Kennedy would be able to significantly influence George W. Bush? If they do, then they need to join the real world.

Worse is to come:

let‚s [sic] compare Tony Blair with previous Prime Ministers. He is the first Prime Minister to have ever read the Qur‚an [sic], to quote from it and to talk about it. Can anyone imagine Margaret Thatcher or John Major doing the same?

How can a Government minister possibly get away with this sort of thing?