I became aware of this video from a tw**t by Richard Dawkins sent me by reader Merilee. Clearly Richard thought it was a very important film, so I watched it.

At only 28, Stacey Dooley has a substantive record of investigative journalism, and in this film wanted to profile two groups that she considered “extremists”: the radical Muslims of Luton and the members of the right wing “English Defense League” (EDL) who protest Islamists’ attempt to impose their values on British society. The film is not new; it was posted on YouTube in May, 2013 and was broadcast by the BBC a year before that. It’s thus about 3½ years old, though I doubt it’s out of date.

Here are the YouTube notes.

Stacey Dooley investigates what is going on in her hometown of Luton and finds out why it is known as the extremist capital of Britain.

Stacey has spent her whole life in Luton. Media commentators all have their theories about what is happening there, but Stacey is uniquely placed to tell the story through the generation she grew up with – the people who are now shaping one of the most controversial towns in Britain.

Stacey meets friends – some wearing veils and others who are fully fledged EDL supporters. She goes to the heart of the Muslim community, dominated by one of the country’s most extreme Muslim groups, meeting both self-proclaimed radicals and those trying to counter them.

Is it all hype? Or is ‘L-town’ such a pick-and-mix of culture that extremists are attracted here like no other town in Britain?

Stacey comes across a group of Muslim Extremists in Luton who are protesting against the arrest of local woman and wife of the Stokholm bomber, Mona Thorney. Whilst following the protest Stacey is confronted by a Muslim woman and experiences first-hand the views held by these extremist groups.

Stacey Dooley (born 9 March 1987) is a British television personality. She rose to fame in 2009 after appearing in a number of BBC Three documentaries highlighting child labour issues in developing countries.

My Hometown Fanatics was broadcast on BBC Three on 20 February 2012.

Before you invest 50 minutes in watching this, I want to note that I didn’t much like the film, nor do I understand why Richard saw it as important. Dooley is self-congratulatory and annoying, it is a “feel-good” film (“why can’t we all just get along?”) rather than a substantive piece of journalism, and, in the end, Dooley’s failure to understand why the EDL and the radical Islamists can’t just settle their problems by a respectful discussion shows that she has no idea what the real conflict is all about.

My guess why Richard thought this film was important was because of its graphic portrayal of the radical Islamist views, but it could have also been because of Dooley’s claim that most Muslims in Luton, like several shown in the film, are peaceful and not opposed to living by the laws of England. But I’ll let him weigh in below if he chooses.