David Cameron will speak to residents of Lozells today on what he believes prevents community cohesion: extremism, poor educational standards, multiculturalism, uncontrolled immigration and poverty.
Our ten highlights of the excellent speech are below (Download full speech):
The British way of resolving tensions: "When there have been tensions, when things threaten to divide us, we’ve always reacted in a very British way. We haven’t been hysterical. We haven’t lost sight of the British way of doing things. We’ve been calm, and thoughtful, and reasonable. That is the British way, and that’s the way we should face the challenge of this moment, today."
Inspiring not coercing (Sun instead of Wind): "Yes we must demand from everyone in this country that they obey our laws. But loyalty is not just about laws. Loyalty is about giving people something to believe in. So we must inspire loyalty by building a Britain that every one of our citizens believes in."
Sharia law advocates are equivalent to BNP supporters: "For the BNP, racism isn’t a scourge, it’s a political philosophy. They prey on voters who are disillusioned with mainstream politics. And those who seek a sharia state, or special treatment and a separate law for British Muslims are, in many ways, the mirror image of the BNP."
Multiculturalism as it stands is a divisive force: "For many years, the ruling class in this country believed in something called multiculturalism. Multiculturalism sounds like a good thing: people of different cultures living together. But it has been manipulated to favour a divisive idea - the right to difference… instead of promoting a unifying idea - the right for everyone to be treated equally despite their differences."
And its proponents have undermined national unity: "Together with the extremism of the BNP, they created a situation in which many people were even scared to be proud of their country, because to say you’re British was practically the same as being a racist. We’ve got to stop all this. We’ve got to make sure that people learn English, and we’ve got to make sure that kids are taught British history properly at school. I believe that the Government should redirect some of the money it currently spends on translation into additional English classes."
Immigration and integration need to go at the same rate: "We wouldn’t be half the country we are without immigration. But you can’t have a situation where a country doesn’t know - and can’t control - who is coming in and out, and who is settling here. That puts pressure on housing, on public services, and helps create division, fear and resentment - among British people of all ethnic backgrounds."
Social mobility is one of the lowest of any wealthy country: "The problem is that many of the consequences of poverty; family breakdown and fatherlessness, drug and alcohol addiction, unemployment, ill-health, and crime… are also its causes. It's a self-perpetuating cycle. In some of our urban areas people are living in conditions of multiple deprivation. Not only is this an affront to social justice; it’s also a breeding ground for resentment and division."
Educational apartheid, between good and bad schools, breeds prejudice: "Without a proper education, many people will be stuck for their whole lives in poverty and ignorance… instead of becoming productive citizens who can make a constructive contribution to the community and the country. Some make it despite the obstacles - but too many don’t. Those who get left behind are prime targets for extremists who offer easy explanations and point the finger of blame at other people."
Cultural sensitivity mustn't prevent championing women's rights: "In certain sections of the community women are being denied access to education, work, involvement in the political process - and, surprisingly, even denied access to mosques. I'm told time and time again by women that the denial of these opportunities is not because of their Islamic faith but because of current cultural interpretations in Britain."
Lacking hope, wealth and opportunity is the real barrier: "The things that divide us are not the differences in our faith or colour. We know in this country - because we have done it so well in the past - that people of all faiths and none, people of all colours and backgrounds have the compassion and the wisdom to know how to live together. No, it is not these things that divide us. What divides us are the barriers."
Deputy Editor
We haven’t lost sight of the British way of doing things. We’ve been calm, and thoughtful, and reasonable.
I suppose Cameron is too young to remember Saltley Ash coke depot, or Edward Heath ordering tanks into Belfast estates to regain control ?
He probably doesn't recall Grunwick - he should read that book by Robert Moss
Posted by: TomTom | January 29, 2007 at 12:47
A cracking speech by Cameron, especially in his championing the rights of our Asian women citizens.
Brilliant! Hope it gets the coverage it deserves. This is the "And" theory in spades.
Posted by: Tory T | January 29, 2007 at 13:01
Seems fair enough, actually
Posted by: Mark Wadsworth | January 29, 2007 at 13:26
Sirling stuff. Well done Cameron.
Posted by: Adam | January 29, 2007 at 13:48
Together with the extremism of the BNP, they created a situation in which many people were even scared to be proud of their country, because to say you’re British was practically the same as being a racist.
That's funny. I thought UKIP were supposed to be the racists (in Cameron's screwed-up brain that is)
So now he's setting out to upset the Muslims. That should be interesting.
Not that they were going to vote for him anyway.
Posted by: Zorro | January 29, 2007 at 14:06
Good speech!! Glad David Cameron has had the courage to say what needed to be said.
Posted by: Sally Roberts | January 29, 2007 at 14:34
Dave is fast becoming the political equivalent of spinal tap!
Posted by: dude | January 29, 2007 at 14:37
Generally good stuff - makes up for the adoption row - and this is a really important issue for us to get right!
Posted by: Account Deleted | January 29, 2007 at 14:38
All very sensible.
Posted by: Serf | January 29, 2007 at 14:57
I don't blame the BNP for the present mess, and nor do I blame the generality of immigrants - I blame our stupid/malicious politicians who have created the mess.
"Immigration and integration need to go at the same rate" - so as immigration has now far outrun integration, it should be stopped until integration has caught up.
Posted by: Denis Cooper | January 29, 2007 at 15:19
1. "The ruling class in this country believed in something called multiculturalism". I wasn't aware that there was a "ruling class" though I suppose DC is now a member of it?
2. "Multiculturalism focuses on what divides us". I thought it was more to do with cultural liberalism and promoting diverse views for the enrichment of our society ie one which allows gay and Catholic adoption agencies and grants its citizens the right to choose?
3. "We've got to make sure our kids are taught British history properly". So DC's going to draft the history curriculum?
4. Poverty. This topic has been raised so often on this site...we should talk about poverty in absolute not relative terms.
5. "Many of our worst schools are in deprived urban areas". Why doesn't he encourage public schools eg Dulwich College which has set up schools overseas to set up schools in our own country?
Posted by: Winchester whisperer | January 29, 2007 at 15:37
3. History- well, this site has voted in favour of compulsory British History GCSE (perhaps it should only be English History...). Did you know that as Education Secretary, Sir Keith Joseph actually did review the final content of the syllabuses for GCSEs in a number of subjects?
5. Is the Chinese Dulwich College, or indeed the English one accessible by everyone?
Posted by: Angelo Basu | January 29, 2007 at 15:44
I'm not sure about the 2 in China but Graham Able's announced that he's setting up another 10 schools in other countries as well (page 2 of today's FT)
Posted by: Winchester whisperer | January 29, 2007 at 15:46
Good. As 1AM says this sensible speech goes some way to assuaging my disappointment in DC over the adoption row.
Posted by: malcolm | January 29, 2007 at 15:48
Interesting article re Dulwich College, although it isn't going to make a big difference even if all the leading schools did the same to subsidise local students. Being a bit of a cynic, I wonder whether the impact of filling half the spaces at DC with kids from the local sink estates in SE London might not be to reduce demand from the current fee paying customer base who would then look to sending their children elsewhere.
Posted by: Angelo Basu | January 29, 2007 at 16:06
Did you know that as Education Secretary, Sir Keith Joseph actually did review the final content of the syllabuses for GCSEs in a number of subjects?
If he hadn't created GCSEs we would all have been better off
Posted by: TomTom | January 29, 2007 at 16:09
“Lacking hope, wealth and opportunity is the real barrier: "The things that divide us are not the differences in our faith or colour. We know in this country - because we have done it so well in the past - that people of all faiths and none, people of all colours and backgrounds have the compassion and the wisdom to know how to live together. No, it is not these things that divide us. What divides us are the barriers."
This is unutterable rubbish. Unbelievable nonsense of the very first rank. The things that divide us are precisely the things of colour, faith and culture. That’s why it’s called multi-culturalism and why it’s failed.
People do not have the “wisdom and compassion” to know how to live together. No-one wants to live in the fantasy rainbow world he evokes. Immigrants both long-standing and newly arrived flock together to form ghettos where their own languages and customs are the rule. Who can blame them? They never signed up to conform to anything, they just wanted better drainage and a less-corrupt police force.
As soon as whites can afford to leave an area where other cultures are heavily represented or dominate they immediately do so – where do they go? Out of the multi-cultural cities and into the reassuringly white countryside where crime is lower and they don’t need to use sign language in the shops.
Of course, the bewildered poor whites left behind sink further into rage when they realise their communities no longer exist and they are now strangers in a alien land that hardly resembles the land of their birth.
The same is true in any country anywhere in the world that has allowed mass immigration on any scale. It is human nature to wish to live among people who share the same mores and have a shared culture. That is what everyone wants. That is why a study by a Harvard researcher discovered that the more ethnically diverse a neighbourhood the lower the general level of trust within it. Surprise!!
I cannot believe that DC has not yet taken on board the reality that what divides people most strongly at this moment in the UK is “faith” – more precisely it is religion. Specifically, the fact that Islam demands its followers make war on all non-Muslims until they convert, pay the infidel tax, or die.
Mohammad is held up as the exemplar of humanity by Islam, the perfect man. To live as Muhammad did is to live the ideal life to Muslims. Unfortunately Muhammad butchered those who opposed him and refused to convert to Islam. Unfortunately Muhammad insisted that Muslims must always make war on non-Muslims (the kuffar, for those who saw Dispatches) until there are no unbelievers left in the world.
Compared to this imperative at the heart of Islam will wealth and opportunity really erase our differences? What hope does DC thinks actually motivates the 40% of Muslim under 24-year olds who want sharia in the UK? It isn’t the hope of joining a community of people who believe in reasonableness and have the “compassion and wisdom” to live with other cultures in peace.
Staggeringly naïve. Staggeringly stupid. Staggeringly ill-advised.
Posted by: tired and emotional | January 29, 2007 at 16:30
Well, um, I thought it was quite good. :)
I could nitpick, and this speech certainly isn't going to save Britain on its own, but I think we're slightly better off after it than before it.
Posted by: Simon Newman | January 29, 2007 at 17:23
Well said Cameron! We are right behind you.
Posted by: Hug a Druggie | January 29, 2007 at 17:35
Is there an audio/video download of this speech anywhere?
Posted by: Dave Bartlett | January 29, 2007 at 17:40
As we're constantly importing poverty, it's going to be impossible to eradicate.
Posted by: Denis Cooper | January 29, 2007 at 17:43
Fine but hollow words as usual, how can we control our borders whilst we remain in the EU and how can we stop Sharia law if Turkey joins the EU.
Shan't hold my breath waiting for an answer from DC.
Posted by: mark | January 29, 2007 at 19:41
Mark @ 1941
Last time I checked Turkey didn't have Sharia law. In fact last time I checked it had the most 'western' legal system in the Muslim world and has been a stable democracy for longer than half of Europe. It's our Muslim kids, not theirs than seem to want Sharia.
Posted by: Afleitch | January 29, 2007 at 19:52
This speech has turned out to be better than I expected that it would and Cameron is to be congratulated for showing some courage in the issues he addressed and how he addressed them.Now let's see these worthy basic principles turned into some hard policies that we can campaign on the doorstep with without being accused, as ever by the left and the BBC/Independent/Guardian etc, of being racists.
Posted by: Matt Davis | January 29, 2007 at 21:31
To me it shows cowardice for Cameron only to have a go at extremist muslims whilst mentioning the bnp too. Like he wants to maintain his PC crudentials. The bnp are nothing compared to the threat we face from islamists.
Posted by: Sam Wright | January 29, 2007 at 22:54
When you actually read DCs speeches they are excellent. You wouldn't think so from the second hand comments of the loud but tiny minority who keep trying to take the party backwards,
Matt
Posted by: matt wright | January 30, 2007 at 00:41
and how can we stop Sharia law if Turkey joins the EU
In Turkey, the idea of Sharia Law, is given the response it deserves. It is illegal to call for its imposition. That said, the rootless third generation Turks in Germany, are in many cases more drawn to extremism than their counterparts back home.
For the first time, to my knowledge, a major British politician has spoken the truth about Sharia. That is that it is on a par with Fascism & Communism, ie an unacceptable totalitarian ideology.
Posted by: Serf | January 30, 2007 at 07:25
Having read the speech in its entirety I realise I was being unfair, I had to forgo my breakfast brandy yesterday and was therefore in a foul mood. It was heartening to see Cameron standing in a room full of Muslim leaders and comparing groups like the MCB to the BNP - which, as it happens, was a masterstroke.
So all that staggeringly this, staggeringly that was off the mark. Although I still have to agree with the article in the Telegraph this morning by Zia Haider Rahman that diversity will never unite us… that’s why there’s no point making the most important speech that’s been given on community relations in the last twenty years and then having that twaddle at the end about barriers not being cultural, or faith-driven (I can accept colour not being a lasting barrier despite the fact that it is used as shorthand for all the cultural stuff).
Anyway, on balance far more good stuff in there than bad… I was wrong to foam at the mouth… amazing to think how far the terms of the debate have shifted, and yet… looks like the left will turn citizenship lessons into diversity training and hijack the rest of the curriculum into the bargain… not sure it matters what the politicians say and do anymore
Posted by: tired and emotional | January 30, 2007 at 10:23
This is the thing about Cameron. He does change the terms of debate, and can do so on enormously wide issues. He did it on a small issue like phonics, he did it on a global scale with Climate Change, and he's doing it again now. He'll keep doing it, and he'll get through the key issues we need to address one by one. He is a leader. To those who worry, I say, "Hold your nerve. He'll get us there."
Posted by: Happy Tory | January 30, 2007 at 11:04
Happy Tory,
Read the speech more carefully, it was nothing dressed up to look good to the faithful. There was cultural cohesion in this Country until say the late sixties. He says about muslims, " the easiest option is to find someone to blame". Did we spawn the terrorists? They had parents presumably. But then Cameron goes by the Heinz Kiosk argument "we're all to blame" except of course him. As to education he hasn't a clue, he wants all schools to be good, that's what Blair said. He does not of course explain how this is going to come about, miracles went out long ago. Cohesion will only happen when we are all equal under the law something sadly lacking at present.
Posted by: Derek Buxton | January 30, 2007 at 13:38
I could not believe the latest idiocy from Camerloon. After his cave in to support Blair over religious adoption agencies (the proposals affect all religions - it was referred to as 'Catholic adoption agencies' because that was the church which confronted Blair over it) now we have his amazing views on multi-cultarilism. He has completely lost touch with the North of England where I was a Conservative Party activist for 20 years. To equate Muslim fundamentalists with the BNP is something that not even Blair has attempted.The Fundamentalists regularly break the law of the land including using Terrorism. BNP despite the recent attempts to prosecute their leadership at the Leeds trials remains within the law of the land. After all it is not BNP members who are being tried at Woolwhich Crown Court is it ? The people in the North and Midlands are being totally failed by the three main parties, the Police and the CPS, so they are turning to a Party which is not hiding from these issues. The job which DC should have been doing was saying how he would deal with these issues not attacking the party they are now driven to supporting. Saying that BNP is a mirror image of Islamic Terrorists is insanity. It in fact encourages BNP because it shows the fear that a major party leader has of them because his own Party is doing so badly in the North.
Posted by: Ivan The Yid From Bradford | January 30, 2007 at 23:17
He is a leader. To those who worry, I say, "Hold your nerve. He'll get us there."
Get us where, exactly?
Amid a crowded field "Happy Tory" takes a star prize for pathetic sycophancy.
Islamic Extremism is lethal, as has been proved on the streets of London, and our problems started when politicians allowed unlimited immigration.
There's very little we can do about the mess now. Cameron's windbaggery achieves nothing.
Posted by: John Irvine | January 31, 2007 at 06:57