by David Frost, Telegraph
If the Government was serious about social cohesion it would be offering more than the incoherent blather of its latest strategy
Protecting What Matters. The title of the Government’s command paper this week on social cohesion is intriguingly vague. What does matter in creating a more cohesive country? Sadly you will be none the wiser, or even much better informed, after reading this paper.
Its most important element is the new “anti-Muslim hatred” definition, a disastrous idea which will, if anything, make worse the problem it purports to be solving. But there is much more to concern us in this rambling and contradictory document.
Quality of language is always a clue to dysfunction. This is among the most badly-written government papers I have had the misfortune to read – and as you can probably imagine, that is a pretty low bar. No doubt there is some modern Civil Service illiteracy in there. But I fear it is more. After all, muddled, disorganised and robotic writing can sometimes be an accurate expression of muddled, disorganised and robotic ideas. And so it is here.
Our problem can be quite easily described. It is that over the last few decades, and especially in recent years, we have invited into this country large numbers of migrants from very different cultures. This has changed the character of parts of our major cities and towns. And it has generated a specific security threat from a small minority within these communities; led to a larger problem of integration – the parallel and distinct lives often led by these newer communities; and, finally, caused significant economic stresses as a consequence.
Protect What Matters occasionally touches on this situation but cannot bring itself to describe it honestly, clearly, or at any length. When it tries, the issue is framed mainly as a problem generated by the existing population for engaging in “hatred and hostility”, for which the remedies are education and training plus a further crackdown on hate crime.