Muslims “are good for Britain,” journalist Lauren Booth, sister of Blair's wife Cherie, told the University of Essex's annual Islamic Conference on Saturday, February 12.
“If the number of British Muslims increases you should know it will be only good for the country.”
Britain is home to a sizable Muslim minority of nearly 2.6 million.
A recent report by inter-faith think-tank Faith Matters found that 100,000 Britons have embraced Islam in the past ten years, suggesting that about 5000 Britons revert to Islam annually.
They estimated about 60,699 converts living in Britain in 2001.
Booth, half sister of Blair’s wife, has embraced Islam last year, immediately on her return from a visit to Iran.
She says by reverting to Islam, she became a better person, mother and journalist.
"I am a better community person, I am a better worker, I am a better mother," she told the conference.
Prejudice
Addressing the conference, in a lecture entitled ‘My Journey to Islam’; Booth said she had been "scared" of Arabs, and "probably" of Muslims.
"They are seeking not to be afraid of us," Booth told the conference called “Islam: Fear or Not to Fear”.
By reverting to Islam, Booth discovered a huge amount of "one-sided news" about Islam which people absorbed, pushing Britons towards prejudice.
A recent government-commissioned study has also found that a torrent of negative and imbalance stories in the British media demonize Muslims and their faith by portraying them as the enemy within.
Booth, however, said that British non-Muslims "wanted it to be OK".
"The British people want us to be happy in their community,” Booth said.
“The British people are pretty good, you know. We all really want this to work."
Hostility against British Muslims, estimated at nearly two million, have been on the rise since the 7/7 attacks.
A Financial Times opinion poll showed that Britain is the most suspicious nation about Muslims.
A poll of the Evening Standard found that a sizable section of London residents harbor negative opinions about Muslims.
Last month, Tory minister Baroness Sayeeda Warsi warned that Islamophobia has become normal and accepted in British society.
Earlier this month, British Prime Minister David Cameron said that multiculturalism has failed in Britain, calling for Europe to join hands to fight what he describes as “radicalization” of Muslim youth in European societies.
But the premier’s position has drawn sharp criticisms from opposition Labour and British Muslims.
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