A think-tank report said that Muslims who chose to live in Western societies had to accept the values of liberal democracy.
Source: Caroline Cox and John Marks, The West, Islam and Islamism: Is ideological Islam compatible with liberal democracy?, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Civitas press release
Date: 2006-Dec
The Prime Minister said that Muslims had a 'duty to integrate' into British society, and warned them they could not be allowed to override the country's 'core values' of democracy, tolerance, and respect for the law.
Source: Speech by Tony Blair MP (Prime Minister), 8 December 2006
Links: Text of speech | Downing Street press release | BBC report | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2006-Dec
A peer introduced a Bill designed to prevent individuals from being forced into marriage against their will.
Source: Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Bill [HL], Lord Lester of Herne Hill, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Text of Bill
Date: 2006-Nov
An article examined Welsh and Scottish devolution as a testbed for the development of multicultural citizenship and race equality.
Source: Charlotte Williams and Philomena De Lima, 'Devolution, multicultural citizenship and race equality: from laissez-faire to nationally responsible policies', Critical Social Policy, Volume 26 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Aug
The government launched an independent Commission on Integration and Cohesion. It said that the Commission would consider innovative approaches to empowering communities to improve cohesion and tackle extremism. Campaigners criticized the government for attacking multiculturalism, and for failing to mention the underlying problems of inequality, discrimination, and racism.
Source: Press release 24 August 2006, Department for Culture, Media and Sport (020 7211 6200) | Press release 24 August 2006, Operation Black Vote (020 8880 6061)
Links: DCMS press release | OBV press release | IRR press release | LGA press release | BBC report | Times report | Guardian report
Date: 2006-Aug
The first annual report was published on a cross-government strategy designed to use key public services to increase race equality and build community cohesion.
Source: Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society: One year on a progress report on the government s strategy for race equality and community cohesion, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2006-Jul
A think-tank report said that the government s main partners in the Muslim community were drawn from the Islamic religious right, rather than the moderate mainstream.
Source: Martin Bright, When Progressives Treat with Reactionaries: The British state s flirtation with radical Islamism, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | MCB press release
Date: 2006-Jul
The government published a progress report on implementation of the recommendations of the 'Preventing Extremism Together' working groups. It highlighted projects focusing on Muslim women and young people, and work aimed at tackling alienation and strengthening civic structures in the Muslim community.
Source: Preventing Extremism Together: Progress Report, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2006-Jul
A report analyzed the way that politicians and the press had depicted Britishness in the three general elections of 1997, 2001, and 2005. Politicians had tended to converge in the way that they talked about Britishness and Britain, representing a growth of civic nationalism , as contrasted with traditional ethnic nationalism .
Source: Michael Billig, John Downey, John Richardson, David Deacon and Peter Golding, Britishness in the Last Three General Elections: From ethnic to civic nationalism, Commission for Racial Equality (020 7939 0000)
Links: Report
Date: 2006-Jun
A study found that, when prompted in to talk about 'Britishness', many white people immediately and spontaneously talked instead about a perceived 'decline' of Britishness - caused by the arrival of large numbers of migrants; the 'unfair' claims made by people from ethnic minorities on the welfare state; the rise in moral pluralism; and the failure to manage ethnic minority groups properly, due to 'political correctness'.
Source: ETHNOS Research and Consultancy, The Decline of Britishness: A research study, Commission for Racial Equality (020 7939 0000)
Date: 2006-May
A think-tank report said that new citizens needed to more visibly ?earn? their citizenship through tests and probationary periods. It also argued that there needed to be a clearer link between citizenship and welfare entitlement for all citizens if the solidarities underpinning the welfare state were to be preserved.
Source: David Goodhart, Progressive Nationalism: Citizenship and the left, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Date: 2006-May
An article examined the extent to which a state was obliged to legislate for linguistic minorities. It said that fundamental principles such as the right to freedom from discrimination, equal protection of the law, substantive equality, and the protection and promotion of cultural and linguistic diversity might argue for legislative intervention and support.
Source: Robert Dunbar, 'Is there a duty to legislate for linguistic minorities?', Journal of Law and Society, Volume 33 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Mar
An article reported on a qualitative research project that investigated the work of the Commission on the Future of Multi-Ethnic Britain, and the news media's deconstruction of the Commission's report (published in 2000). It examined how the damaging political fall-out of extremely negative news media coverage affected research encounters. The openness with which many of the participants spoke about this traumatic experience suggested that the production of policy documents could constitute highly emotional labour for participants.
Source: Sarah Neal and Eugene McLaughlin, 'Researching up? Interviews, emotionality and policy-making elites', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 38 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2006-Jan
A new book examined the question of Britishness – past, present, and future. It investigated how devolution had brought a new focus on the future of Britain and the nature of Britishness; discussed the challenge of a more diverse society, with the search for a basis of social cohesion and solidarity; and examined the Prime Minister's Britishness project, with its aim of producing a statement of British values.
Source: Andrew Gamble and Tony Wright (eds.), Britishness: Perspectives on the British question, Wiley (01243 779777)
Links: Summary
Date: 2006-Jan