I WRITE regarding the Burnley MP Gordon Birtwistle’s recent call for a fellow Lib Dem parliamentary candidate, Maajid Nawaz, to be de-selected and his membership cancelled after he posted a controversial cartoon of Jesus and the Muslim prophet Muhammad on Twitter.

The cartoon has been condemned as blasphemous by the Islamic community and Mr Nawaz has reportedly also received death threats since he posted the image.

Mr Nawaz stated that he supported the principle of freedom of speech and he wasn’t offended by the cartoon which originated on a website featuring religious satire.

But Mr Birtwistle’s call to have him kicked out of the party came after he was approached by several of his constituents who had concerns about it.

Mr Birtwistle says that he is in favour of people having free speech but not if it “allows them to abuse other people and other communities”.

He fails to mention that there is no abuse and the cartoons are utterly inocuous and inoffensive.

Maybe he hasn't even looked at them. So there we have the contrast. On the one hand, Mr Nawaz is prepared to make a brave and principled stand knowing that some of his fellow Muslims will be offended but believing that that is the price we pay for living in a free and democratic society.

Meanwhile, Mr Birtwistle clearly believes that free speech only extends so far as not to offend anyone or, more particularly, not to offend a vociferous minority who are potential Lib Dem voters. Mr Birtwistle should be ashamed of himself.

Mr Nawaz understands how easy it is for our hard-won right of free speech to be undermined and eroded.

He now devotes his life to fighting intolerence and religous fundamentalism.

He is the chairman of the Quilliam Foundation, a counter-terrorism think-tank, and has written a book entitled “Radical” which should be compulsory reading for all MPs, especially those like Mr Birtwistle who are so ready to compromise our hard- won human rights purely for party-political gain.

John Turley, Knightsbridge Avenue, Colne.