Thursday, August 24, 2006

Ruth Kelly wades into divide

Today Ruth Kelly announced, the launch of a commission on integration and cohesion, urging an honest debate on diversity. This is encouraging that, the government appeared to recognise that the excepted policy of cultural diversity is not necessarily working.


For a variety of reasons, misunderstanding and tensions between different sections of the population are probably higher than they have ever been in my lifetime.


The strength of Britain, is the diverse make-up of our people, but it seems that mainstream British culture, if there is such a thing, has been put to one side in the last 10 to 20 years. Right or wrong there has been an overwhelming push from the establishment, to embrace minority cultures and to ignore British traditions, the sort of thing to which I refer is the banning of Christmas in some local authorities (Despite the fact that the majority population is still Christian).


If you read me at all, you will know that I'm an atheist and therefore not a great respecter of religion, however I do expect this country to have a bias towards the Church of England, and other Christian denominations not because of beliefs but tradition which I respect as a British national.


I think there has been a bias, towards minority groups, which is all well and good, and I think we should support every cultural group, that makes up this country but we should not forget our core history and values.


I hope that this commission will bring something positive towards our country, because there is a danger of tension between different ethnic groups.

8 comments:

  1. As an Aussie bloke living and working in Thanet, I find I get a lot of rather racist remarks directed at me.

    Now I don't mean that people are racist towards me. No, what I get is: "This country's gone to the dogs since they let all the foreginers in," that sort of thing. When I point out that I, too, am a foreigner, they kind of laugh and say things like: "Well we don't count you, obviously."

    What I gather from that is that they don't regard me as foreign because I speak (roughly!) the same language, am white, C of E, etc. I'm kind of pre-integrated, if there is such a term.

    So maybe you're right, Tony. If all the foreigners were white, English speaking and C of E, there'd be no problem.

    Or maybe, as I suspect is the case if you look at some of the remarks I see on e.g Thanet Life, there are a lot of miserable, whinging, stuck-up Little Englanders here on this island who are looking for easy targets to blame for their own pathetic lives.

    (By the way, I don't count you in that mate, as you seem to be quite well balanced!).

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  2. If it helps you, I for one, do regard you as a foreigner along with South Africans, New Zealanders, Indians and Pakistanis (unless applying for British nationality or holding dual nationality) EC citizens are a different matter, as they have a right to work and live in this country as I do in there's.

    In fact it is one of my irritations that white, South Africans, Australians, Canadians and even Americans seem to have some sort of special pass that allows them to live and work in this country without restriction.

    I to, may actually be part, of the little Englander mentality, as a reaction to years of being told to embrace other culture, I would like to be comfortable with my own culture which happens to include as its linchpin a democratic country, with a fair legal system, separate from religious bigotry.

    Any way enjoy your time in Britain and feel comfort, that one little Englander does not believe there are special classes of foreigners!

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  3. No worries! By the way, we do all have special passes, it's a bit of a throwback to days of empire, we're allowed to live and work here for two years. Also, as many of our parents emigrated to Oz from the UK or countries that are now in the EU, many of us hold two passports, and can stay here for as long as we like! Good eh!

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  4. Aussie Bloke one thing I would take issue with you is the comment in your original post

    "So maybe you're right, Tony. If all the foreigners were white, English speaking and C of E, there'd be no problem."

    You appear to infer something which I have not said and unlikely to, I like many have issues, with being force feed the notion that somehow British culture is so lacking that we are expected, to lose identity and respect for our own traditional way of life, free speech, democratic legal system etc.

    Language and race is so much bull

    The question of being able to stay for 2 years or ever is frankly a pain, as far as I know Australia is fairly antagonistic towards brits these days, but I always put it down to Australians being a balanced people or nation with a chip on both shoulders one for not being British and another for not being American

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  5. Dear Tony, do you not find it strange that we now have a labour minister calling for integration and cohesion in 2006 after her Govt has been resposible for allowing the greatest mass immigration into this country in its history? So multiculturalism is now out, and we must now all attempt to integrate. The words of Enoch Powell who was wrongly labelled a "racist" now come back to haunt us when he argued that mass immigration beyond the capacity for the host country to absorb would lead to diverse and separate communities(multiculturalism) and no integration.

    Could I quote a Labour Minister(Stonehouse, before his disgrace!) who said in Feb 1968 the following, concerning the campaign by Sikhs to wear turbans on motorbikes and not helmets and to be allowed to wear turbans instead of uniform caps at work:

    "The Sikh communities' campaign to maintain customs inappropriate in Britain is much to be regretted. Working in Britain, particularly in the public services, they should be prepared to accept the terms and conditions of their employment. To claim special communal rights (or should they say rites?) leads to a dangerous fragmentation within society. This communalism is a canker; whether practised by one colour or another it is to be strongly condemned."

    So there is nothing new from Ruth Kelly ,a current Labour Minister; the only difference is that the problems in promoting integration and cohesion are that much larger in 2006 because of her party's misguided and foolish promotion of mass immigration and a cosy 'nirvana' of a multi-cultural society. It has taken the attrocities of last July and the alledged plot this summer to make this Government at last realise that it has a population in this country containing individuals who are not integrated into our society in any way at all, despite being born here and who are prepared to attack that society. Like the Roman "they seem to see the River Tiber foaming with much blood". Sound familiar?

    I am afraid that Ruth Kelly's conversion to 'Powellism' is too little and too late and will be an abject failure.

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  6. Anon 10:34 I think you miss my point Powells comments where I think racist and lacking in humanity the rivers of blood speech effectivly ended his career in mainstream politics for good reason.

    Get this clear I have no objection to any race or creed, what I object to is minority interest groups, imposing their will over my freedom, such as fundamental religious bigots suggesting two tier legal systems such as the call for islamic sharia law in what is a civilised country with a fair system of law.

    This whole subject is emotive but we all have a duty to respect others, but that doesn't mean we should not debate this countries social future, which I presume is what Ruth Kelly is attempting, granted a little late in the day but its a start.

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  7. Tony, we must agree to disagree about Enoch Powell. I find it interesting that the very concerns you raise in your post and above were discussed by Powell in his 68 speech. Does the following not match the aspirations of our Islamic extremist element?

    " Now we are seeing the growth of positive forces acting against integration, of vested interests in the preservation and sharpening of racial and religious differences, with a view to the exercise of actual domination, first over fellow-immigrants and then over the rest of the population. " (Enoch Powell 1968).

    When Stonehouse was decrying communalism in 1968 he was urging integration and not multi-cultural ism.! Multi-culturalism has been a failure in this country as its multicultural counterpart 'apartheid'(separate development) was in South Africa.
    Ruth Kelly has grasped the truth that Powell was urging for, INTEGRATION! Sadly, with the numbers now involved due to uncontrolled immigration and and the fundamental difference of religion being the single greatest barrier against integration, we need to rely on the passage of time(hundreds of years) and the continuing tolerance of the majority of all citizens of all races.

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  8. I recall Ruth Kelly recently implied that accepting elements of Shariah Law would be a good thing...

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