THE OBSERVER: British asians [sic] provide a model for the rest of the country, David Cameron declares today, as he argues that many Asians cannot be blamed for failing to integrate.
In a powerful article in today's Observer, Cameron says that Britain's drug ridden cities are understandably alarming many Asians. 'The picture is seriously bleak: family breakdown, drugs, crime and incivility are part of the normal experience of modern Britain,' Cameron writes.
'Many British Asians see a society that hardly inspires them to integrate. Indeed, they see aspects of modern Britain which are a threat to the values they hold dear. Not for the first time, I found myself thinking that it is mainstream Britain which needs to integrate more with the British Asian way of life, not the other way around.'
Cameron wrote today's article after spending two days with a British Asian family in Birmingham. The Tory leader stayed in the spare bedroom of Abdullah and Shahida Rehman's house and enjoyed a curry with the family.
During his stay Cameron learned how Muslims feel marginalised in today's Britain with one upsetting issue being the use of language.
'We must be careful about the language we use,' he writes. 'Many Muslims ... are deeply offended by the use of the word "Islamic" or "Islamist" to describe the terrorist threat we face today.' [Source: Guardian/Observer] Nicholas Watt and Jamie Doward | Sunday, May 13, 2007
