“We have learned - or at least we should have - that seeing Islamist extremism purely as a reaction to what we do is fundamentally mistaken. Indeed that view - Western centric as it is - belittles the threat we face. It implies we can somehow opt out of this fight, that if we hide maybe they will leave us alone.”

Liz Kendall is a British politician and Labour Party member. Born Elizabeth Louise Kendall, she has been the Member of Parliament for Leicester West since 2010 and held senior cabinet posts in the mid-2020s. She served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2024 to 2025, then as Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology from 2025 to 2026. Her public profile is tied to parliamentary work and ministerial office in British government.