Political correctness is allowing Islamic terrorism to flourish and is fuelling the growth of the extreme right-wing, police leaders were warned last night.

Dame Louise Casey, who carried out a two year review into integration in the UK, said our desire to embrace diversity was creating division and also letting down some of the most vulnerable members of society.

Speaking at a summit of police chiefs and crime commissioners, Dame Louise, it was time to have the difficult conversations about what was going on in some of the less integrated communities in places like Bradford, Birmingham, Oldham and the East End of London.

She said while the police were not frightened to address factors such as ethnicity and religion when it came to most crimes, there was a reluctance to have similar conversations around extremism.