A think-tank report said that the government needed to 'reconnect' with disillusioned British Muslims. A programme to promote the life-chances of Muslims through work, education, and welfare legislation would help Muslims while also promoting inclusion.
Source: Sadiq Khan MP, Fairness Not Favours: How to reconnect with British Muslims, Fabian Society (020 7227 4900)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Sep
The Draft (Partial) Immigration and Citizenship Bill was published. The Bill was designed to overhaul all immigration laws dating back to 1971, and to confirm new laws reserving full access to benefits and social housing for citizens and permanent residents. Foreign nationals wishing to became British citizens would have to earn the right to stay, by learning to speak English and obeying the law.
Source: Draft (Partial) Immigration and Citizenship Bill, Cm 7373, Home Office, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Making Change Stick: An introduction to the Immigration and Citizenship Bill, Home Office (0870 000 1585)
Links: Draft Bill | Report | Hansard | Home Office press release | Liberal Democrats press release
Date: 2008-Jul
A study examined the relationship between recent immigration and social cohesion, in the context of other social and economic transformations that affected everyday life. Addressing deprivation and how people connected was more important for social cohesion than trying to get everyone to adhere to the same fixed notion of 'Britishness'.
Source: Mary Hickman, Helen Crowley and Nick Mai, Immigration and Social Cohesion in the UK: The rhythms and realities of everyday life, York Publishing Services for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from York Publishing Services Ltd (01904 430033)
Links: Report | JRF Findings | JRF press release | UNISON press release | NAR press release | Telegraph report | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Jul
A new book re-examined multiculturalism in the context of recent policy debates on security, integration, and human rights.
Source: Derek McGhee, The End of Multiculturalism? Terrorism, integration and human rights, Open University Press (01280 823388)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-May
The government announced (in the draft Queen's Speech) plans to introduce a Citizenship, Immigration and Borders Bill, designed to replace all existing immigration legislation with a simplified, clear, and coherent legal framework to control the country's borders, manage migration, and reform the path to citizenship.
Source: Preparing Britain for the Future: The government's draft legislative programme, Cm 7372, Office of the Leader of the House of Commons, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Draft Queens Speech | Amendments | Home Office press release | Runnymede Trust press release
Date: 2008-May
A think-tank report examined how a government committed to progressive notions of citizenship might respond to the fact that fewer people were willing to take up British citizenship or were able to establish long-term roots within communities.
Source: Jill Rutter, Maria Latorre and Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Beyond Naturalisation: Citizenship policy in an age of super mobility, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Mar
The report of an official review made recommendations designed to strengthen British citizenship. They included: establishing a new national public holiday; council tax discounts for volunteer work; changes to existing categories of citizenship; language loans for new immigrants to learn English; a type of community service to enhance 'citizen education'; and special citizenship ceremonies for school-leavers.
Source: Peter Goldsmith, Citizenship: Our Common Bond, Citizenship Review, c/o Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Review press release | IPPR press release | LGA press release | Unlock Democracy press release | Refugee Council press release | Ekklesia press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | BBC report
Date: 2008-Mar
A think-tank report examined the way in which the Prime Minister (Gordon Brown) used patriotic rhetoric, his understanding of national identity, and his vision for citizenship. The Prime Minister's engagement with the issues of patriotism was 'anything but opportunistic'. There were two major strands in his thinking – the 'national' and the 'neighbourly' – and it was the latter that would ultimately help to build civil society.
Source: Stephen Backhouse, Red, White, Blue.. and Brown: Citizens, patriots and the Prime Minister, Theos (020 7828 7777)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Feb
The government published its response to the report (published in June 2007) of the official Commission on Integration and Cohesion. It set out a range of new policies and measures to be driven forward by central government to create strong, united communities. These included greater support for local authorities responding to changes in their area, including the creation of specialist cohesion teams who would be on hand to advise local authorities in need of help in managing migration.
Source: The Government's Response to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links:Response | Commission Report | Hansard | DCLG press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Feb
A report said that patriotism should be taught in schools as a 'controversial issue'. Pupils should not be encouraged to love Britain, because it had a 'morally ambiguous' history.
Source: Michael Hand and Jo Pearce, Should Patriotism be Promoted, Tolerated or Discouraged in British Schools?, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: IOE press release | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Jan