Filed under: Multiculturalism
Yesterday’s report from the Commission on Integration and Cohesion sent out a clear message to social policy makers across the UK – that multiculturalism (no doubt thanks to political correctness) has not worked. The report also reflected some serious home truths (which politicians dare not raise), such as the growing threat of ethnic tensions and violence in rural areas through immigration. It also questioned the role currently played by local authorities whose general approach to immigration is to spend public money on leaflets in every language under the sun and to host ‘cultural’ events, whilst failing to recognise and celebrate some of our own finest traditions. This whole subject is a political minefield for politician’s (even when backed by research) which is why I was not surprised by the muted response from the political parties to this report yesterday. While, the report presented some sensible ideas on promoting integration and cohesion, its recommendations pose an interesting challenge for Labour under Gordon Brown. The irony for Labour (a party which once dominated local government) is that councils obsessed by multiculturalism have previously dismissed such ideas. It will therefore be interesting to see how Brown reverses the damage of this approach and whether he ends up departing from Labour’s more conventional approach to immigration and integration by taking a tougher line.
