The UK battle against the threat posed by extremism could last 15 years, says the new security minister.

Former navy chief Admiral Sir Alan West warned the country was threatened by a 'disparate core of racists and bigots'.

He said people needed to become 'a little bit un-British' and inform the authorities of any threats, adding that tackling them 'was not a quick thing'.

He told the Sunday Telegraph the focus should not just be on Muslims as the threat was to all people in the UK.

Assessing the threat to the UK as greater than ever, Sir Alan told the newspaper he did not like 'talk about 'the Muslim community' and this sort of thing'.

'We've got to be very careful. The threat is to our British way of life and all of our British people,' he said.

The UK is battling against 'a disparate core of people - based abroad primarily - whom I'm afraid are racist, they're bigoted, they seek power, they're avaricious in money terms and they talk of the caliphate.'

His comments come the day after the second anniversary of the 7 July suicide bombings in London, and in the wake of the recent raised state of terror alert in the UK.

On tackling the terror threat to the UK and preventing the radicalisation of young Muslims, Sir Alan, who was appointed by Gordon Brown last week, said: 'This is not a quick thing. I believe it will take 10 to 15 years.

'But I believe it can be done as long as we as a nation apply ourselves to it and it's done across the board.'

He added: 'Britishness does not normally involve snitching or talking about someone.

'I'm afraid, in this situation, anyone who's got any information should say something because the people we are talking about are trying to destroy our entire way of life.'

Sir Alan admitted that in relation to the extremist threat, the government was 'not getting our message across properly'.

He also said that extreme Islamists had 'severely damaged one of the world's great religions - the one they purport to support'.

The Sunday Telegraph also quotes former MI5 chief Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller as saying that more than 100 suspects are awaiting trial across the country in 40 terror-related cases.

On Saturday, the Muslim Council of Britain issued a statement telling Muslims it was their 'Islamic duty' to co-operate with the police to ensure Britain's safety.

It was agreed at a meeting in London held by the Muslim Council of Britain and attended by more than 200 people, including imams, community activists and police representatives.