“BLAIR GETS IT RIGHT” SHOCKER

09-12-2006

Tony Blair admitted yesterday that British society had sometimes helped minority groups to promote ethnic, racial and religious division in the name of multi-culturalism. “What took you so long to realise?” asks Derrick Campbell, chief executive of Race Equality Sandwell.

Mr Blair's speech was headlined “A Duty To Integrate”, and he stressed the "duty and need" of immigrants to join the mainstream of British society. “Tolerance, solidarity and equality" were his watchwords, and he said:

"Multicultural Britain was never supposed to be a celebration of division but of diversity, to allow people to live harmoniously despite their differences, and we need to reassert the duty and need to integrate."

He outlined some of the measures aimed at easing tensions between races and religions including an English language test to ensure those wishing to settle in the UK can communicate. And he said faith schools would be twinned with schools of other faiths to promote understanding.

The Prime Minister also stressed the need for citizens to accept equality and respect for all, citing forced marriage and religious prejudice against womenas unacceptable.

Everyone, he said, must obeycriminal not religious law, whilevisiting preacherswill be excluded if they preach hatred. Religious and racial groups seeking grants will also be asked to show how they promote integration.

In the address, Mr. Blair insisted he did not want to dilute religious identity or abandon multiculturalism, which should continue to be celebrated. But he said"the right balance can be struck between integration and diversity".

All of this is so much commonsense, you can only wonder why he has taken so long to say it. Those of us who work in the field of community relations have viewed with growing alarm the attitude of a number ofgroups and in particular some religious groups who seem to forget that minorities are just that - minorities.

They only make up a small percentage of this country's population, yet it's clear in some cases that they are determined not to recognize other people's rights. These groups feel that they can integrate when they like, and when it does not suit them they don't.

Respect for all is an important principle to remember who ever you are, and if this is ignored the consequence will be grave. We have seen what France has attempted to do on the religious agenda, with faith removed entirely from the school curriculum, and differing ethnic groups being forced to remove symbols of their identity.

Is this what we want in Britain? If not, beware of promoting a backlash by refusing to be a part of a society, which for all it's faults, offers so much to many. Remember, when in Rome ....