Writing in the National Review on Monday, the former Bishop of
Rochester said David Cameron had been right to criticise the doctrine of
multiculturalism in his recent speech at the Munich Security
Conference.
In his first speech on terrorism, the Prime Minister had admitted to
the failure of multiculturalism and said that young Muslims needed a far
stronger British identity to stop them turning to extremism.
He also
criticised the “hands-off tolerance” which had hitherto left extremist
ideologies and practices unchallenged.
Mr Nazir-Ali, originally from Pakistan, said multiculturalism had
created “segregated communities” that were “fertile” for extremists.
He said: “The reason multiculturalism came to be invented was the
loss of public discourse rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It is
this discourse, and the making of moral and political decisions in its
light, that needs to be recovered.”
The bishop welcomed steps outlined by Mr Cameron to root out
terrorism on home soil, such as banning preachers of hate from Britain
and refusing to fund organisations that promote extremist ideology.
“It seems that, at last, someone is listening to what many of us have been saying for years,” he said.
He criticised the failure to welcome and accommodate Britain’s diversity on the basis of Christian hospitality.
“This would have affirmed the Christian basis of British
institutions, laws, and values. Others would then have been welcome to
contribute, in this context, to nation-building. What we have had,
rather, is the amnesia from which we now need to recover,” he said.
“The reason multiculturalism came to be invented was the loss of
public discourse rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It is this
discourse, and the making of moral and political decisions in its light,
that needs to be recovered.”
Bishop Nazir-Ali identified specific steps that the Government should
take to foster integration, including ensuring a religious and ethnic
balance in school populations and requiring members of minority
communities to learn and speak English.
He also called for a thorough system of vetting religious leaders
wishing to visit and work in Britain that would take into account their
knowledge of the English language and British culture, and their
academic credentials.
He concluded: “The prime minister has begun a national and even
Europe-wide debate on integration and its relation to security. The
government needs now to show in its policies that it is aware of the
issues he has raised.”