Muslim MPs yesterday warned John Prescott that dealing with the threat of Islamic extremism would take "at least a generation".

The Deputy Prime Minister held his first face-to-face talks with MPs since last week's anti-terror raids as part of on-going talks to improve links with the Muslim community.

But Labour MP Shahid Malik warned there were no "quick fix, simple solutions" and all sides need to "step up to the mark".

Mr Malik was joined by Sadiq Khan, Mohammad Sarwar and Khalid Mahmood (Lab Perry barr) in Whitehall to give their assessment of the situation in communities.

"It's not the end of the process. This is going to take at least a generation to deal with," Mr Malik said.

"There are no simple solutions and there are no quick fix solutions and this is something that we are going to have to work on in partnership.

"It's going to take years to get to the bottom of some of these issues."

Mr Sarwar said the meeting had been a "frank exchange of words" which included raising concerns that the absence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and the Forest Gate raid had eroded p ublic trust in the Government.

"The huge challenge is how we can regain trust in the Muslim community," he said.

"I think we should be honest and straight with people."

The lack of public support for the UK's foreign policy in the Middle East also caused tensions, he added.

"But that does not mean anybody should use this as a pretext for terrorism."

Mr Malik, Mr Khan and Mr Sarwar were among leading British Muslims who signed an open letter to Tony Blair criticising his foreign policy.

The move lead to accusations they were trying to justify terrorism by allowing extremists to shape policy but today the MPs refuted that interpretation.

"Foreign policy issues do cause frustration and anger but there can be no justification for terrorism or violence," Mr Malik said.

Mr Sarwar added: "We are not in any way appeasing or supporting terrorists.

"We want them to be dealt with in the full severity of the law."