Europe minister Peter Hain has toned down his criticism of "isolationist" Muslim communities in Britain, telling MPs that the government is proud of its engagement with minority communities.

And tackled on the rise of the far-right across Europe during Foreign Office questions in the Commons, Hain said it was important for European leaders to work together to address feelings of "insecurity" among their populations.

He agreed that there was a widespread "disenchantment with conventional politics across Europe".

"We do need to tackle people's sense of insecurity," he said. "We need to learn from each other and tackle this problem together."

The minister said the government wanted to address the feeling that European leaders were remote from the citizens they govern.

"The government, and I as the government's representative on the Convention for the Future of Europe, are seeking a set of reforms in Europe which ensure that the leaders of Europe are much more accountable to the citizens of Europe," he said.

Questioned on the row prompted when he told the BBC that some parts of the Muslim community needed to be better integrated into British society, Hain stood by his comments.

But he went out of his way to praise Muslim communities and stressed that his remarks also applied to other religions.

"It is important for a party and for a government that has encouraged the appointment of Muslims in all walks of life - we have more councillors in the Labour Party of Muslim faith than ever before and than any other party, we're proud to have Muslim members of parliament, we are proud to have helped appoint Muslims to the House of Lords," he said.

"But there is a tiny minority of isolationists within the Muslim community, like there are tiny minorities of fundamentalists and fanatics in all religions, including in Northern Ireland for example, and we stand full square against that in order to build a tolerant, anti-racist society," he said.

'Isolationists'

The row came after Hain said on Sunday that "we need to work much harder to integrate Muslims in particular with the rest of society".

While welcoming the contribution of the Muslim community to British country, he said parts of the community could be exploited by extremists.

"They enrich our culture, they are welcome here. But there is a tendency amongst a minority to isolate themselves and that leaves them vulnerable to either exploitation by Osama bin Laden-type extremists and fanatics on the one hand, or targeting by racists and Nazis on the other," he said.

He also said that the conflict in the Middle East had created anger and bitterness in the Muslim community in Britain.

"Equally we have got the situation where Muslims are being targeted by Nazi groups like the British National Party and racists.

"So we have to work together to make sure that we target both the racists themselves and the causes of racism."

The comments were condemned as "counter-productive" and "divisive" by campaigners.