We're all immigrants really. If you go back far enough. Some have to go back further than others but many, like me, feel - and indeed are - entirely British, even though my dad was an immigrant from southern Ireland only 60 years' ago.
Whether it was the Norse or the Angels, the indigenous Celts or the Normans, the French, Finns, Poles, West Indians, Indians, Asians, us Paddies, the marauding Scots, we have ended up as a thriving multicultural society with broadly agreed views, values and outlook on life. And we have largely arrived at a consensus; shaped by the views, values and beliefs of people from all of these backgrounds, as to what being British is about. And I think we should be immensely proud of this: Britain has given more positives to the world than any other nation on earth.
It is not an unblemished record. There have been dark days and exploitation along the way but in terms of the most valuable assets - for nations and individuals - freedom, choice, rule of law and a civilised approach to living our lives, we have led the way globally for centuries.
And whilst these 'British' values have been shaped by everyone concerned, they have also endured because (for the past couple of hundred years at least), those coming in have understood - or quickly come to understand - what being part of this great nation actually means in terms of benefits and responsibilities, duty and opportunity, respect and generosity. It only really works when we're all pulling in the same general direction and the vast majority of British people (newly arrived and of long-standing tenure) understand and accept this.
Multiculturalism then, has and does work for Britain when it is about people coming from virtually anywhere on the planet and with wildly varying views, beliefs and backgrounds, if they understand, believe in and accept what it means to be part of this place.
This does not mean that they have to give up all cultural, historical or even religious affiliations from their former homes (Norman Tebbit's 'who do you support in the cricket match'? question), but it does mean accepting that you are now a British citizen first and that our laws, at the very least, are sacrosanct whoever you support at Lords, the Oval, Trent Bridge or even your place of worship.
And this has worked essentially for two reasons:
Firstly because the numbers involved were relatively small over time and that there has been a diversity of incomers in terms of their backgrounds. And yes people have tended to congregate in areas where their fellow immigrants have settled but in relatively small numbers that have subsequently been assimilated into the general population. There are obviously exceptions to this in Bradford, my home town of Leicester, Birmingham and parts of London but they have 'worked' (relatively speaking) for the second reason:
Which is that most of these 'incomers' have been grateful to be here, have recognised the generosity of their hosts and that working within the system rather than fighting against it, is likely to produce the best outcomes for them and their families. After all, why strive to come here only to fight against the existing situation which promises a better life for themselves? That would be mad.
Wouldn't it?
Given what I've said so far, I'm not sure I really need to spell out the rest of my point, but I do realise that there are two types of people in the world:
1: those who can assimilate from incomplete data....
In recent years what we currently and erroneously describe as 'multiculturalism' clearly hasn't worked and isn't working. That's not my opinion, but the received wisdom from government and most cultural, economic and political commentators. Dave has today begun to spell out government policies designed to address the problem that is radical Islam in our society. And as usual the Muslim Council of Britain is rejecting the attempt rather than getting on board with it and trying to help - for the good of the people it supposedly represents. Which remains extremely worrying - what agenda are these Muslim leaders really working to?
But it's not a failure of multiculturalism because what we now face is not multiculturalism but mono-culturalism. It's a failure that has come about because of an influx of people from one culture - a culture which, in these significant and likely to grow (massively) numbers, cannot be 'forced' (by economic or cultural/community reality nor the barrel of a gun), to assimilate, to take on our fundamental values, to respect our laws.
And by not imposing our laws consistently or effectively, by turning a blind eye to FGM, polygamy, child brides, honour killings, electoral fraud, child grooming for sexual exploitation, radicalisation, attempts to influence our education system, we are effectively creating a much bigger problem than should ever have existed in the first place.
Multiculturalism has always worked in Britain. What we currently have is an influx of mono-culturalism and by allowing it to retain its own identity, in some places to enforce its own sharia law system and by turning a blind eye to its disregard for UK laws, we are exacerbating the problem. Which is why it's simply not working.
But it has now become a massive problem. One that will take several generations to solve if indeed we can solve it at all. And one which, in my opinion, could well lead to serious conflict on our streets before long.
Dave is right to be doing what he's doing, but it may already be too late.
Thanks for reading.
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