Eric Pickles has insisted double decker buses, the Queen and the London Eye should be recognised as belonging to everyone when attempting to promote Britishness.

The Communities Secretary reiterated Islamic values are compatible with British values, adding the country is distraught when people leave and risk becoming "sex slaves in Syria for some psychopath to use".

He said there is a responsibility on government, local government, schools and parents to try and get another message to children to prevent them being radicalised, with opportunities provided to allow youngsters to see the wider world.

For Labour, shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt said picture boards of British stock images in schools would not be enough to improve the situation.

He agreed teachers and headteachers have a responsibility to inform the police if they suspect youngsters are heading to danger zones and risk being radicalised.

Mr Hunt added parents and mosques are vital in the "battle of ideas" although said it will be longer struggle to ensure a peaceful and collaborative vision of Islam wins out against the "nihilistic vision" coming from Syria.

Asked to name something which is quintessentially British rather than English, Welsh or Scottish, Mr Hunt told BBC Radio 4's The World At One: "I could mention Parliament, I could mention the British Museum, I could mention lots of things but the challenge is to have great teachers and headteachers with the resource and capacity to teach young people - particularly in areas of multiple ethnicities, multiple religions - try and create that civic sense of Britishness.

"What I see in too many schools are picture boards with pictures of the Queen and double-decker buses and the London Eye and I honestly don't think that's enough to give that richer and greater sense of gel about growing up in modern Britain.

"So I think more work needs to be done on this."

Asked the same question, senior Conservative Mr Pickles replied: "But I think it's important to recognise the Queen, double decker buses and the Eye do belong to everyone in this country as indeed does our flag.

"Sometimes I get the idea, I know you're not asking a simplistic question, but it's almost as if to be Islamic is incompatible with being British and of course it isn't.

"We don't want people to lose their cultural identities but what we do need to do is recognise that this country is there for them.

"We are distraught in terms of people leaving this country because we don't want to see our young girls turned into sex slaves in Syria for some psychopath to use.

"We don't want to see our young people mixing with psychopaths - that's something we need to understand."