Davis questions multiculturalism
The government should think again about its policy of multiculturalism in the wake of the London bombings, David Davis said today.
The shadow home secretary and front-runner for the Tory leadership accused the authorities of supporting distinctive identities at the expense of a strong sense of nationhood.
Multiculturalism allows people of different religions and cultures to live together without expecting them to integrate, but writing in The Daily Telegraph today, Mr Davis said this policy had been proved lacking.
His comments follow a meeting between Home Office minister Hazel Blears and Muslim leaders in Oldham yesterday to discuss ways to re-engage young, alienated British Muslims.
It was one of eight meetings planned over the summer, culminating in a conference with home secretary Charles Clarke in September, where “concrete proposals” on reintegrating disaffected minorities are expected to be announced.
In today’s article, Mr Davis said he believed multiculturalism was “outdated”, and said Britain should learn from the US where “pride in the nation’s values is much more prevalent among minorities than here”.
Non-Muslims have obligations to their Muslim fellow citizens, such as working for equal rights, accepting the mainstream version of Islam as part of society, and rejecting “vile racism”.
“But Muslims in turn have obligations: not simply to condemn terror, as one Labour MP put it, but to confront it,” Mr Davis wrote.
He added: “Britain has a proud history of tolerance and respect towards people of different views, faiths and backgrounds. But we should not flinch from demanding the same tolerance and respect for the British way of life.”
Meanwhile, shadow defence minister Gerald Howarth has said Muslims who hate Britain should leave the country, regardless of their status as UK citizens.
The Tory MP for Aldershot told The Scotsman it was treacherous to act against Britain on the perception that the US-led Iraq war is a challenge to Islam.
“If they don’t like our way of life, there is a simple remedy: go to another country, get out,” Mr Howarth said.
“There are plenty of other countries whose way of life would appear to be more conducive to what they aspire to. They would be happy and we would be happy.”
The Muslim Association of Britain rejected the remarks as “arrogant” and “naive”, but Glasgow MP Mohammed Sarwar agreed with the sentiment.
“When it comes to extremists, for example Omar Bakri and Abu Hamza and what they are advocating, then I agree with what Mr Howarth said. There is absolutely no room for people like them in a civilised, democratic society like ours,” Mr Sarwar said.
