THE NATIONAL (UAE): LONDON - Muslim communities in Britain would be forced to integrate into UK society as a whole under a future Conservative government, the party has been told. Plans to force all immigrants to speak English and to ban any place for sharia in the British legal system have been outlined at the annual conference of the Conservative Party, the country’s main opposition party.
The party, which has seen its lead over the Labour government in opinion polls cut to 12 points from 21 points in the past month, signalled an end to the policy of multiculturalism, which has encouraged different groups to retain their own religious and ethnic identities. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, the Conservative shadow minister for community cohesion and social action, attacked what she called a “decade of state-driven multiculturalism” under Labour.
Mrs Warsi, a Muslim, said at the conference, which opened in Birmingham on Sunday, the policy had played on people’s differences and had created cultural divisions at the expense of shared British values. “It has sent out the message that we’re not sharing a society, we’re just cohabiting a space,” she said. “It has led people to retreat into separate cultures rather than reach for a shared community.”
Additionally, she said it had created an “obsession with self-appointed community leaders, and a crude use of patronage politics has led to communities divided against each other, with people losing that inner instinct of what it is to be British”. A future Conservative government would make integration and neighbourliness central to the party’s policy-making with everyone in Britain being obliged to speak English and with British history being taught “so young people know who we are as a nation”. She added: “Good neighbours look out for each other. That’s why we will tackle unacceptable cultural practices, not turn our backs and say it’s sensitive and none of our business.”
In a separate speech, Baroness Pauline Neville-Jones, a shadow minister for security, said a future Tory government would “force Muslims to integrate into British society”. Forced Social Integration Plan Targets Muslims >>> David Sapsted, Foreign Correspondent | September 29, 2008
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