Dear Spooks:

First of all, forgive me if this letter comes to you as a culture shock. I know the idea of an "open letter" might seem rather alien to your general way of doing things. But just in case you've completely lost touch with reality, Britain is a democracy. People out here in the real world engage in public activities and exchange views and ideas freely, despite all those clever gadgets and phone taps you use to keep tabs on us.

However, I am slightly worried things soon might not be so public, now you have decided to set up spy-centres outside of London, focusing on the comings and goings of British Muslims.

You see, my local mosque (and I'm not telling you which one it is coz it's a secret) has an Islamist cell. This "cell" consists of a few dozen silly young men on the dole who go around knocking on people's doors advising them to pray more frequently and be better Muslims generally. Like many Muslims, I find them mildly irritating, sometimes rather offensive in their views, but otherwise harmless.

The problem is my young brothers are only too aware of some of the gaffs your services have made lately. At the risk of pre-empting the Butler Report, there is the small matter of Iraq. You did insist Saddam's empire was laden with weapons of mass destruction, but so far no show.

Of course, every government agency Ò and perhaps I am unfairly blaming one department for the crimes of another - is entitled to the odd mistake or two. However, I doubt my long-bearded brothers will be so forgiving. Just as they probably cannot tell one spook from another, you donÌt seem able to distinguish between ordinary fundamentalists and the murdering thugs who want to blow up Tony Blair. I suspect my Islamist friends will simply assume a local spook-centre means more dawn sledge hammers knocking on Muslim front doors - theirs in particular.

Worse still, they are only too aware how bitchy and provincial some Muslim communities can be. When the road you live in is effectively a transposed rural village, all sorts of fallings-out and fratching is inevitable. Snitching to the spooks will become just another bullet in the local gossips' arsenal. My excessively pious friends might as well mark their front doors with red paint and save you the trouble.

The real danger, though, is that many fundamentalist British Muslim youth will hear news of your plans and go to ground. This is going to make them prime targets for the real crackpots, and before you know it, the very strategy you developed to prevent terrorism will have promoted it.

So excuse me if I don't volunteer to join your ranks, or recommend Muslims to do the same. I don't believe creating a climate of fear and suspicion will ever stop the recruitment of terrorists. Giving young unemployed Muslims a decent job is a much better idea.