Row over Muslim pact rages

Iain Duncan Smith today tried to shrug off his refusal to sign a crossparty commitment to avoid inflammatory language against Muslims.

But his attempt was promptly torpedoed by a senior black Conservative who attacked his refusal to sign the pact as "pig-headed and stubborn".

The pledge was signed by Tony Blair, Lib- Dem leader Charles Kennedy and many others. But the Tories, complaining that the organisers, the Islamic Society of Britain, did not represent most Muslim opinion, delivered a separate declaration from Mr Duncan Smith calling for tolerance and respect for all religious groups.

Mr Duncan Smith said today he wanted to put his opposition to intolerance in his own words, adding: "There's no row here." Lord Taylor of Warwick condemned his stance, saying that by adopting "this pig-headed attitude" the party seemed "determined to show themselves even further out of touch with modern Britain".

Other senior Tories, including Mr Duncan Smith's adviser on ethnic affairs, Mohammed Riaz, attacked Lord Taylor for "constantly criticising" his party. But some Tories privately share Lord Taylor's fear that the party has scored an own goal, reviving needlessly the race issue which plagued it during the election campaign.