Teenagers may be called on to attend citizenship ceremonies side by side with immigrants under plans to improve relations with the newcomers.
They would be asked to go to their local town hall to pledge allegiance to the Queen, just as immigrants must do to win British citizenship.
The idea is to establish a bond between those born here and those who choose to make Britain their home.
Spending 10 minutes taking an oath of loyalty side by side with a group of new immigrants isn’t going to help native-born teens “bond” with them. What this actually is is a pretext to inculcate an extra dose of loyalty in certain native-born youths. Which, not coincidentally, is connected to the real news buried in this article:
The commission, set up by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly in the aftermath of the July 7 bombings two years ago, condemned many of the practices carried out for years in the name of anti-racism – which have cost millions in taxpayers’ and lottery money.
It says translation services that result in local authority documents published in scores of languages should be cut back and the money saved poured into English lessons.
Grants for single ethnic or cultural groups – routinely handed out by councils and lottery boards – should stop unless there is an exceptionally good reason for them. Such grants often provoke jealously and suspicion, the commission says.
It says social housing should no longer be provided for particular groups.
If you need it spelled out for you, follow the link to the Daily Mail and see what the last item listed in the “What’s Out” column is. Blair made no bones about it last December. How sad that it took a body count to get Labour to see the perils of the principle.
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