"The majority of Muslims will laugh and see the film for what it is"

Morris’s movie, Four Lions, will be screened for the first time on Saturday at the Sundance film festival in Utah. Backed by Channel 4, it follows the exploits of a hapless gang of terrorists from the north of England whose plan to launch a suicide attack on the eve of the millennium is foiled at the 11th hour.

Its plot has echoes of the four suicide bombers, three of them from Leeds, who killed 52 commuters in London in July 2005.

Earlier this month, Jihad! the Musical, a satire on the war on terror, opened in London’s West End. The show, which includes the songs Building a Bomb Today and Jihad Jive, involves a terrorist plot to blow up a UK target known as the “unidentified, very prestigious landmark”.