We tamper with the coronation at our peril!

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"We are not a multicultural society. We are a monocultural one tolerant of other cultures, and whose clear identity is understood by the people, if not by their leaders. We are an old country with a strong sense of continuity. And anyone who trifles with such manifestations of our antiquity and stability does so at his peril." - Simon Heffer, June 7, 2006

There are few things more enjoyable than when a Leftie admits, or pretends to admit, he was wrong. We saw it a year or so ago when Trevor Phillips, commissar-in-chief of the Commission for Racial Equality, said that multiculturalism had not been a huge success, and that those from other cultures who came here were better off learning to be British.

I think he was sincere. I am less sure about Gordon Brown, who bores on about Britishness almost daily. It is the sort of thing that allows a socialist such as Mr Brown to fake some point of contact with conservative-minded patriots. It is also his way of trying to hide the fact that his own party's policies have split up the United Kingdom and made his position, as a Scot sitting for a Scottish seat who wants to be Prime Minister mostly of England, somewhat precarious.

Not all of the Left has, however, twigged that multiculturalism is rather last century. Someone of whom I had hoped we had heard the last, the former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey, made a predictable intervention in this debate from beyond the grave last weekend. He proclaimed that the coronation of our next monarch must be an "interfaith" event. The ceremony must, he added, have "very significant changes", so that it is "inclusive" of other religions in Britain. Britain is an old country, our ways deserve respect by Simon Heffer

Mark Alexander