They are entitled to that view, just as many people opposed Gerry Springer the Musical or The Life of Brian. In a free society we are entitled to hold different beliefs about what is offensive and we have a (secular) court system that decides what should be allowed and what is grossly offensive or inciting racial hatred.
There are many cartoons from 1930s Germany that would not be allowed in today's due to inciting hatred. Iran even had a competition to design the most offensive cartoon about the holocaust (as did an Israeli media organisation )

My point here is that it is completely wrong to view all Muslims, or even 78% of British Muslims, as supportive of violence against cartoonists or anybody else. The few fanatics and terrorists need to be dealt with, but please do not do them the honour of suggesting they represent Islam. That is not to suggest that they have 'nothing to do with Islam' but some in the Islamic community preach nasty things, and that needs to be dealt with, just as it should be when preachers of other religions (or none) promote hatred and violence against people with other beliefs, races, homosexuals, doctors, or cartoonists.

In a civilised society violence is never the correct punishment for any crime, let alone a different lifestyle.

Britain, and London in particular, is an example of a well integrated community. There are few monocultural areas within London, which is very different to the segregation found in many American cities. On the whole British tolerance and gradual unforced assimilation has worked very well in Britain and continues to do so.

Anti-semitism in France is not limited to some in the Muslim community but has a long history among some in the wider community in France. The Dreyfus affair was one of the first examples of institutional anti-semitism in what was meant to be a country of equality. Despite this and the claims of Jews fleeing France, there remain more Jews in France than in Britain. And I hope that today's events does not change that.

But don't let this liberal attitude fool you. I have been in favour of banning Hizb ut-Tahrir since my time at university in the 1990s. Had this happened back then the radicalisation for many in the UK may not have happened. Only in 2004 was it added to NUS 'No platform' list, and I think it was made illegal in 2007.

We need to be tough with people who are inciting hatred and violence but accepting and tolerant of people who may have some different values to our own. And we should not assume that anybody falls into the first camp just because of their religion.