The government's language on British Muslims has had to change to avoid alienating the Muslim mainstream, Cabinet Minister John Denham told the Fabian fringe.

The government's language on British Muslims has had to change to avoid alienating the Muslim mainstream, John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills told the Fabian fringe.

"The loose use of terms like 'Islamic terrorism' have had a profoundly alienating effect. I think there has been a recognition of that and that we are hearing and will hear much less of that from government ministers," said John Denham at the Fabian fringe meeting.

"The analogy with the IRA is not a good one because the IRA never regarded their actions as an expression of their own Catholicism. Those who blew up Glasgow airport, however misguidedly, did' s

The debate that has never taken place clearly enough is how that ideological and theological debate is going to be resolved within the international – rather than the British – Muslim community. That will affect

'Some of us can be supportive but can not determine how it takes place'

But Zareen Roshi Ahmed of the British Muslim Forum warned against the government seeking to pick the Muslims who they wished to talk to.

"This is isolating the Wahhabi and Salafit views – that is a big mistake. If you do that, you back them into a corner. If you exclude anybody, because they have some Saudi funding, then you are saying that everybody from that theology is an extremist, and they are not."

In the past Muslims had been drawn to Labout as a vehicle to tackle racism: "Now we feel it has become more racist than other parties."

The Labour party needed to value Muslims as a community and not see them as a problem, she added. "The Muslim community needs to feel it is not being blamed." But, she added, the Muslim community needed to recognise it had to take responsibility for certain things.

In some cases local councillors were being elected who could not read or write, she added.

Rupu Huq, lecturer at Kingston University,said: "Muslims need to argue much more strongly against this Wahhabi view – it is not about religion, it is about politics."

Politicians needed to look less like they were seeking voters and more like they were seeking solutions, she added.