'British foreign policy is not the problem; it is part of the solution'

The Foreign Secretary will say the West needs to realise that hundreds of millions of Muslims are on its side in the battle against terrorism.

His speech on Thursday comes after Prime Minister Theresa May rowed with United States president Donald Trump over his sharing on Twitter of anti-Muslim videos posted by far-right group Britain First.

Strengthening national identities in the Muslim world, empowering women and fostering reform are key to restoring peace and prosperity, Mr Johnson will say.

He will also reject the suggestion that wars waged by Britain in the Middle East are to blame for Islamist terrorism at home.

"British foreign policy is not the problem; it is part of the solution," he will say.

"And above all we will win when we understand that 'we' means not just us in the West but the hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world who share the same hopes and dreams, who have the same anxieties and goals for their families, who are equally engaged with the world and all its excitements and possibilities, who are equally determined to beat this plague."

The Foreign Secretary will say blaming Western military intervention for terror only fuels the rise of jihadism, which has the "addictive power of crack cocaine".

During the general election campaign this year, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn drew links between Britain's involvement in military interventions overseas and terrorism at home.

But Mr Johnson will point out that nations which have little history of military intervention in the Middle East suffer terrorism inspired by Islamic State, also known as Daesh.

Dozens of people have been killed or injured in terror attacks in Westminster, Manchester, London Bridge and Finsbury Park this year.

Mr Johnson will say: "To assert, as people often do, that the terrorism we see on the streets of Britain and America is some kind of punishment for adventurism and folly in the Middle East is to ignore that these so-called punishments are visited on peoples - Swedes, Belgians, Finns or the Japanese hostages murdered by Daesh - with no such history in the region."

He will praise British efforts around the world to tackle terrorism, saying they are already illustrating the country's commitment to the security of Europe and the world after Brexit.

Mr Johnson will say: "Every day around the world I can tell you that British serving men and women are putting their lives at risk to roll up terrorist networks, to expose what they are doing, to thwart them and bring them to justice.

"They are making good on what the Prime Minister has rightly called the unconditional commitment of the British people to the security of our European friends, not just in this continent but beyond."