Accept British way of life or stay away, Blair tells migrants

Accept British way of life or stay away, Blair tells migrants

Fran Yeoman, Political Reporter
December 08, 2006

Members of all faiths have a “duty to integrate”, Tony Blair said yesterday. The Prime Minister set out “shared boundaries within which we are all obliged to live”, and argued that a person has the right to call themselves British only if they accept key principles including democracy and equality.
“Our tolerance is part of what makes Britain Britain,” he said, offering potential immigrants a stark choice: “So conform to it or don’t come here.”

In a speech on multiculturalism, Mr Blair said the current problem was not “generalised extremism”, but extremism within a minority of the Muslim community, “particularly from certain countries”.

He said that these extremists were not true Muslims, but that it is “daft to deny the fact that they justify their extremism by reference to religious belief”. He later sidestepped a question about whether British policy in Iraq had also been an influence on the 7/7 bombers.

Outlining a six-point policy programme for social cohesion, Mr Blair said that the Government will clamp down on radical preachers coming to Britain: “We will not tolerate those who seek to create an environment in which terrorism and radicalism can thrive.”

On the contentious issue of the veil, Mr Blair said that it was “common sense that when it’s an essential part of someone’s work to communicate directly with people, being able to see their face is important”.

Mr Blair also addressed the issue of community groups, saying that public money had too easily been handed out to “groups that were too tightly bonded around religious, racial or ethnic identities”. He promised that such donations will in future go only to groups which “promote community cohesion and integration”.

Faith schools will have to meet new guidelines on respect for other religions, and firm action was pledged against madrassas that fail to comply with their legal requirements.

All faith groups have “a perfect right to their own identity and religion”, but when it comes to essential values like democracy and the rule of law, “no distinctive culture or religion supersedes our duty to be part of an integrated United Kingdom”.

The Conservative Party welcomed Mr Blair’s speech, although Dominic Grieve, spokesman for community cohesion, claimed that past political correctness was to blame for many current problems.

He said: “It is to be hoped that the rhetoric of his speech will result in action.”

The effect of British foreign policy on the attitudes of Muslims towards integration was raised by Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, chair of the Muslim Council of Britain’s Committee on Inter-Faith Relations.

“On the whole the speech was something I was hoping for — he said that multiculturalism is to be celebrated,” he said.

“It has given us food for thought: there is much we need to improve to put our house in order. But I hope the Government can also put its own house in order. It needs to assess how its policies, in particular foreign policies, impact on communities.”

Six-point plan

Community racial and religious groups will get public funds only if they promote community cohesion and integration

I MUST SAY !! WAY TO GO TONY BLAIR !! GOOD FOR YOU !!