COMMUNITIES Secretary Eric Pickles yesterday brought down the curtain on the era of state-sponsored multiculturalism, with a new strategy on community cohesion and integration which calls for people to come together around shared values.
Mr Pickles said the Government will stand up for “mainstream” values by strengthening national identity and celebrating what people in England have in common, rather than what divides them.
He accused the previous Labour administration, and its equalities minister Harriet Harman, of taking the country down “the wrong path” by encouraging different communities to live separate lives.
And he called for local communities to use events like the Big Lunch or the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and inter-faith activities to bring together people of different backgrounds.
Mr Pickles made clear his determination to keep the English language and the Christian religion at the centre of national life, citing decisions to require migrants to speak English, reduce the number of official documents translated into other languages and allow councils to hold prayers at the start of meetings. New education standards will bar schools from teaching which “undermines fundamental British values”, said yesterday’s document from his Department for Communities and Local Government.
But he also confirmed his commitment to tolerance, insisting that the Government will remain vigilant to hate crimes directed at Muslims and Jews.
“We are rightly proud of our strong history of successful integration and the benefits that it’s brought,” said Mr Pickles.
“Britain is a place where the vast majority of people from all walks of life get on well with each other.
“I welcome the contribution of everyone but those who advocate separate lives are wrong.
“It is time to concentrate on the things that unite the British people.”
Yesterday’s paper said that, despite Britain’s tradition of tolerance, the past decade has seen growing concern over race relations, as incoming migrants in some areas have shown themselves “unable or unwilling to integrate”.
The paper, entitled Creating the Conditions for Integration, argued that problems have been made worse by top-down government action, which has encouraged communities to resort to the law to settle their disputes and assert their rights.
“It is only common sense to support integration,” it said.
“In the past, integration challenges have been met in part with legal rights and obligations around equalities, discrimination and hate crime.
“This has not solved the problem and, where it has encouraged a focus on single issues and specific groups, may in some cases have exacerbated it.”
