The next suicide bomber could be working for you. So employers have a duty to engage with the government's Prevent strategy on fighting terrorism

Is he a brown, bearded backpacker from Beeston? The perpetrators of the 7/7 outrage in London certainly conformed to that stereotype. I recently became the advisory board chair of the counter-extremism thinktank the Quilliam Foundation and soon found out that profiling isn't so easy.

Left-wing thinkers believe that unemployment, social decay and racial abuse are bedrocks for unrest and the bombing of Muslim countries such as Iraq provide the tipping point for inner-city social unrest to turn into something uglier and much more dangerous. Twenty years ago, we thought book-burnings and riots were bad enough—now look where we are today, with Britain on a high state of terror alert.

Right-wing thinkers point to the open migration to Britain of Islamist preachers of hate who go about recruiting from the fertile ground of sections of our society that have been allowed to ignore fundamental values of UK citizenship—our obligations to commit to the common code of what has made Britain special.

Misguided liberal social planners, they argue, have let vulnerable communities define themselves, and in the absence of a good citizenship framework based on cohesion and integration we have allowed segregation to happen. As a consequence and within those isolated pockets, extremism has been allowed to fester and grow without us knowing.

We have got ourselves into a right old mess—one that goes beyond intellectual or political debate and, without sounding too alarmist, threatens the safety of everyone. How did we get here and what do we do about it?

Elements of both schools of thought are probably correct, but seeing as we're not either going to wipe out social inequalities overnight—and neither will we be bugging mosques, tailing extremists and placing spies in every college—then we need to curtail if not eradicate the processes and outcomes of radicalisation in the short term.

The liberalism that may explain how we got here is also proving to be a barrier in turning things around. When straight after the 7/7 bombings I wrote an article in the Evening Standard saying that moderate Muslims must report evidence of radicalisation in their workforces, mosques and even their families, it was interpreted as calling for Muslims to spy on each other. Well, why not? If I detect something and do nothing about it, am I not an accomplice?

They may not be popular names in many Muslim households, where hardline conspiracy theories can abound, but journalists such as Martin Bright and Andrew Gilligan have brought back a tradition of unrelenting investigative journalism to expose extremist strongholds in London. Both of the journalists used moderate Muslim voices to prove their points. Politicians need to be as bold and they will be if more moderate Muslims give them support.

But this is not just a debate between Muslims, the media and the state. It affects us all. The next suicide bomber might be working for you or me right now. The next bomb could destroy your business or mine. Employers need to engage more with the government's Prevent strategy on terrorism or whatever new policy may flow from it. This is no cosy relationship between community/religious leaders and ministers—it involves us all. As businesspeople, let's not wait for others to sort this out; we should realise that we all have an important role to play in taking Britain off a high terror alert.

So what should you do? Train your staff to detect signs of radicalisation within your workforce. More positively, reach into your communities and, if you're not already, make yourself an inclusive organisation that reflects the diversity of areas where you are located.

Businesses that engage with their local communities are least likely to face criminal behaviour against them. During the Brixton riots in 1981, one store that wasn't attacked or looted was Marks & Spencer. The reason? It had an active community engagement programme.

In business, none of us want to be victims. We must protect ourselves. Contact your local police force and ask about the security measures your business could adopt. We need to work hard to ensure that nothing dangerous happens to us.