If we look at Abdel Nasser in Egypt as an Arab leader, he was secular.

I'm yet to discover any form of theocracy that isn't homophobic, that isn't bigoted to the out group.

If we are true small 'l' liberals, it's our job to seek out feminist Muslims, ex-Muslims, liberal Muslims, dissenting voices within Muslim communities, gay Muslims - we should promote those voices and in doing so, we demonstrate Islam is not a monolith, Muslims are not homogenous, and that Muslims are truly internally diverse.

I can now say that the more I learnt about Islam, the more tolerant I became.

After much soul searching I was able to renounce my past Islamist ideology, challenging everything I was once prepared to die for.

I believe that preventing radicalisation is far more efficient than de-radicalisation, meaning stopping someone joining is a lot easier than trying to pull someone out once they've joined.

When I returned to the United Kingdom, I found that I could no longer justify Islamist extremism as the antidote.