Kelly launches 'un-PC' debate on integration

British communities must work together to root out extremism, a cabinet minister said today, as the government unveiled a new body to help promote social cohesion.

Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, speaking at the launch of the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, said it was time for a "new and honest debate" about what was causing segregation.
Kelly said it was important to assess whether the promotion of a multicultural society had actually helped contribute towards the seclusion of some communities.

"I believe ... we have moved from a period of uniform consensus on the value of multiculturalism to one where we can encourage that debate by questioning whether it is encouraging separateness," she told a conference in south London.

"In our attempts to avoid imposing a single British identity and culture, have we ended up with some communities living in isolation of each other with no common bonds between them?"

"I think we face the clear possibility that we're experiencing diversity, no longer as a country, but as a set of local communities."

She said diversity was a huge asset and immigration had helped boost the economy, but warned it meant global tensions were now being reflected on Britain's streets.

Read Ruth Kelly's speech in full