Delivering the Polis Lecture on Media and Diversity  in London, David Lammy said:

“People ask, is it right for the BBC or Al Jazeera to interview groups who spread mistrust and division through a twisted reading of Islam?  To give them what used to be called the oxygen of publicity?  The answer is ‘yes, it is.’  Freedom of expression means showing up the extremists for what they are.  They usually don’t speak for anyone other than themselves, and their poisonous voices are best silenced by rational and reasoned argument.”

Mr Lammy also stressed that increasing diversity meant that the media need to respect differences too:

“Publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed was no shining defence of free speech.  It ignored how power works.  The majority can shout louder than the minority, and printing the images was deliberately designed to cause offence.  The British media acted with intelligence and sensitivity, just as they did when the London bombs went off last year.

“Freedom does not mean regard for others no longer matters.  Having the right to be offensive, does not mean that it is right to be offensive.”

Note to editors

The full text of David Lammy’s speech is available from Toby Sargent in the DCMS Press Office on the number below.