David Cameron was extremely angry that the Coalition’s final legislative programme before next year’s general election was pushed from the top of the news agenda last week by “May vs Gove”.
Despite the very public split between Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, and Theresa May, the Home Secretary, at the level of policy, their differences on how best to deal with Islamic extremism are more about emphasis and nuance than radically different approaches.
Beyond last week’s stories about leaked letters and statements from the ministers’ supporters is a profoundly serious argument about what must be done in order to ensure that Muslim communities in Britain adopt British values, and are integrated into British society.
It is not just an argument about how to prevent terrorism inspired by religious fanaticism. It is also about the future of our culture, and how to ensure that it does not fragment into a series of segregated and separate groups united only by their mutual suspicion and distrust.
That is the nightmare scenario that just about everyone wants to avoid. It is one conjured up as a serious possibility not just by political parties such as Ukip and pressure groups such as Migration Watch, but also by academic researchers who study the impact of immigration. » | Alasdair Palmer | Sunday, June 08, 2014
