Muslims attending Friday prayers at the East London Mosque in Whitechapel in the heart of the UK’s largest Muslim community were abuzz with news of the latest terror arrests. “I hope they’re prosecuted. The police are doing what they should be doing. We want secure places as much as anyone else,” said Tariq, a middle aged, besuited man of Asian origin.

But he was worried that the arrests might be a diversion to steer people’s attention away from the disastrous situation in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the “real issue,” namely discrimination against the British Muslim community, was being ignored, he said. “We are a very law abiding community, but we are suffering.”