Posted on 12/09/2006 12:29:11 AM PST by ScaniaBoy
Tony Blair formally declared Britain's multicultural experiment over yesterday as he told immigrants they had ''a duty" to integrate with the mainstream of society.
In a speech that overturned more than three decades of Labour support for the idea, he set out a series of requirements that were now expected from ethnic minority groups if they wished to call themselves British.
These included "equality of respect" - especially better treatment of women by Muslim men - allegiance to the rule of law and a command of English.
If outsiders wishing to settle in Britain were not prepared to conform to the virtues of tolerance then they should stay away. He added: "Conform to it; or don't come here. We don't want the hate-mongers, whatever their race, religion or creed.
"If you come here lawfully, we welcome you. If you are permitted to stay here permanently, you become an equal member of our community and become one of us. The right to be different. The duty to integrate. That is what being British means."
Mr Blair's volte face - just eight years ago he championed multiculturalism - was the culmination of a long Labour retreat from the cause. In recent weeks, Jack Straw, Ruth Kelly, John Reid and Gordon Brown have all played their part in a concerted revision of the Cabinet's stand which began in earnest after the July 7 suicide bombings in London last year.
Mr Blair, speaking in Downing Street, said the diversity of cultures in Britain should still be celebrated but the tone of his speech was against the ideology that became known as multiculturalism.
"The right to be in a multicultural society was always implicitly balanced by a duty to integrate, to be part of Britain, to be British and Asian, British and black, British and white," he said
The bombings had thrown the whole concept of a multicultural Britain "into sharp relief" and highlighted the divisions in society. While it was right that people should enjoy their own cultures, they should do so under a single set of overarching values.
"When it comes to our essential values, the belief in democracy, the rule of law, tolerance, equal treatment for all, respect for this country and its shared heritage — then that is where we come together, it is what gives us what we hold in common; it is what givesright to call ourselves British," said Mr Blair.
"At that point no distinctive culture or religion supercedes our duty to be part of an integrated United Kingdom."
Sounds like he read "Londonistan" and got the wake-up call
America, take note.
Yes: Wouldnt it be great if Bush opened his eyes.
Into retirement?"
Right. And since he's not going to be very busy soon, do you think we could borrow him for a while?
Thanks for the compliment on our Conservative PM Harper...a man of good character and integrity we had the good sense to elect to clean house after years of publicly scandalous Liberal govt corruption [including Liberal ties to a NY Mafia crime family].
The anglosphere is the present torchbearer for Western Civilization since we inherited that from the French [first the British Empire/Commonwealth, then and still America, who knows maybe someday it will be India] - somehow the culture that arose out of the 'Angle Isle' with its deep rooted English Common Law heritage has contained the right values to preserve Human Liberty on this Earth for centuries; may it do so for enough longer for Humanity to move into space, where we will become Free forever...
Bush has not done the best job of convincing the American public that what we did in Iraq was the right thing. And, of course he is hampered by the media, but so have been all recent Presidents of the Republican stripe. In the beginning the Catholic Church came out against the war in Iraq and I understand that position much better now than I did then. I think the Church had a better understanding than our politicians of what would happen in that country. We were not prepared for what we found...or didn't seem to find (weapons of mass destruction).
Most people in this country are tired of being there and I think two things have worked against the President. We have not had another attack from terrorists (people are rather forgetful), and his administration has not done enough to put forth the evidence that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Sorry to say but so many of us on this side of the pond have a gamers attitude about conflict. We think that if we have just the right kind of weapon or right level of power we should be able to beat the foe pretty quickly. We waltzed into Iraq and thought the rest of the conflict was going to be just as easy as toppling Saddam's statue.
Yes: Wouldnt it be great if Bush opened his eyes
He sees perfectly clear, his hands are tied, especially now.
When 9/11 happened, Bush quickly declared war, and his poll numbers shot upwards (deservedly so). But his conduct of the war has been disgraceful. Part of that was simple incompetence, we now know they didn't have a plan for the occupation of Iraq. But much of that is timidity, every time we begin operations against people like al Sadr, we don't finish them. We are "respectful" of mosques and other strongholds of the enemy, who take that as a sign of weakness; they still hold us in contempt. If I see Bush hold hands with a Saudi sheik again, I will go berserk.
I am sorry I disagree. President Bush has been shoving this Amnesty move all along . He has done nothing to stop the flow of illegals, His hands arent tied he wants these illegals in this country, It is his worst flaw IMO.
He cannot be blind to the gangs, the mexican flags flying, their refusal to learn in English, La raza's effortas to take back California. He see's these things and he says and does nothing. It isnt that his hands are tied he is actively involved in allowing these things.
Wow.
Hope this spreads through the entire monarchy.
I wouldn't count on it, but you have to start somewhere.
Prime Minister Tony Blair is right about wanting to end multiculturalism, but he is too late. Too many "cultures" have taken over Britain to ever change it back to the way it was in the early nineteenth century.
President Bush, call your office.
"Bush and his team have done an absolutely excellent job of positioning him as a conservative, when on critical issues he is nothing of the kind. They deploy the usual wedge issues (gay marriage, desecration of the flag constitutional amendment) to deflect attention away from his liberal positions on budget deficits and immigration."
***
Ah, they're taking the lessons from the playbook of LBJ during his 1948 senatorial bid. Ol' Lyndon (with generous backing from Brown & Root et al.) hired several PR firms to canvas Texas constituents' views. He learned what each segment of the population believed, what they wanted and hoped for, etc., and then had his speechwriters create the appropriate speech for each group before whom he would elicit votes. Such tactics had never been seen in Texas before that election that he reportedly stole from his more ethical Democratic rival, ex-governor Coke Stevenson.
I agree with you assessment of Bush. Voters simply trusted his word that he was a conservative. He is more fluff than substance.
Also, seeing him hand-in-hand with Arab sheiks ruffles me to, but what really ruffles my feathers are the annual Ramadan celebrations he hosts in OUR WHITE HOUSE!
B-b-but that's racist!
Reason: Most readers here are Brit Conservatives. Blair, and his ilk, are not conservatives, as the article mentions - his cronies are un-reformed Left Wing liberals now trying to save their a$$es and pensions.
The situation here is dire. Our Conservative candidate is called 'Dave' - he is metroman and goes to work on a bicycle.
Shiite, there are no leaders here in the UK. Enoch Powell called it like it is [would be] 40 years ago [he was right] and we pilloried him.
We have got exactly what we deserve.
ScaniaBoy,
Don't give up on Bush.
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