Lauren Booth, the half-sister Tony Blair’s wife Cherie claimed, that the cause of terror attacks is drugs and not the religion of Islam.
The 49-year-old got converted to Islam in 2010 following the breakdown of her first marriage, blamed the atrocities on ‘young, disenfranchised drug addicts’.
“The Westminster bomber was known to take drugs and use prostitutes. The Tunisia bomber took drugs, the Paris attacker took drugs,” Lauren told in a show on Monday.
“The Muslim community has been calling for a long time for the police to come into these areas where drug taking is rife,” a report of Daily Mail quoted her saying.
She defended the Muslim community during the segment discussing whether it was ‘time to get tough on terror’ after Theresa May announced a four-point plan including tougher sentences and a crackdown on communities suspected to be sympathetic to terrorists.
But Lauren said this kind of attitude is not going to help and that the police need to address different issues such as drugs.
Lauren said she was just as ‘angry’ as everyone else in the country and questioned the mistakes the government made immediately after the Manchester attacks.
“There were calls to police helpline. There are reports being made,” she said. She also insisted that the police shouldn’t be ’rounding up random innocents’
“I go to Didsbury Mosque and if you read in the papers that this is the ‘hotbed of extremism’. It is one of the most reasonable mosques, with beautiful areas you can go to, with lovely areas for women and children study. We have been attacked by extremism the past few days with Tommy Robinson trying to get in and traumatising children there,” she stated.
Lauren got converted to Islam after she had an intense spiritual experience in one of the Iranian mosques. She currently lives in Stockport with husband Sohale Ahmed.