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The political assertiveness of Muslims in Britain is creating difficulties for secular multiculturalism. While black and related ethno-racial identities are intrinsic to the rainbow coalition of identity politics, this coalition is deeply unhappy with Muslim consciousness. While for some this rejection is specific to Islam, for many the ostensible reason is that it is a religious identity, and therefore has no place in the public sphere. Yet in this the advocates of difference politics are reverting to a public/private distinction that they have spent two or three decades demolishing. The emergence of Muslim politcal agency has, then, thrown British multiculturalism into theoretical and practical disarray. This is worrying because on any objective reading there cannot be a race relations settlement in Britain without the Muslims, as nearly half of all non-whites are Muslims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]