Solutions for a segregated society: The Casey review and what to do about it

The Casey Review looked at opportunity and integration into society, and contains much insightful analysis of the problems Britain faces. But the solutions presented in the review are "remarkably weak", says Tim Dieppe.

3MuslimWomen_web.jpg

Islam has promoted segregation in Britain, according to a major review published this week. The Casey Review looked at opportunity and integration into society, and contains much insightful analysis of the problems Britain faces. But the solutions presented in the review are "remarkably weak", says Tim Dieppe. He proposes ten robust policies that the Government could adopt to tackle the problems that multiculturalism has landed us with.

Earlier this year, former head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips warned that "integration of Muslims will probably be the hardest task we have ever faced." He was commenting on a survey showing the segregation of minority communities in our society. Last year, the then Prime Minister and Home Secretary commissioned Dame Louise Casey to conduct a review into opportunity and integration in our society. Reports in October suggested that the Home Office was trying to censor this report, but it has now been published in full.

The Problem

The report makes for some alarming, if not surprising reading for anyone who has followed discussions about these issues. Perhaps the most striking illustration of the segregation in our society noted in the report is that a survey of pupils at a non-faith secondary school showed that they believed Britain to be between 50% to 90% Asian. That secondary school children would believe this is extraordinary and shocking, and a powerful demonstration of how segregated some communities are.

In 2013, 50% of ethnic minority students were in schools where ethnic minorities were the majority. In January 2015 there were 511 schools across 43 local authorities with 50% or more pupils from Pakistani or Bangladeshi ethnic backgrounds. The report states "Muslims tend to live in highest residential concentrations at ward level." In some wards in 2011, Muslim populations were between 70% and 85%. With this kind of segregation, it is unsurprising that secondary school pupils growing up in these areas would assume that Britain is over 50% Asian.

The report points out that the Muslim population grew by 72% between 2001 and 2011, faster growth than any other religious group. This is due to both immigration and higher birth rates. Integration has been "undermined by high levels of transnational marriage" whereby children marry a partner from Pakistan, creating a "'first generation in every generation' phenomenon in which each new generation grows up with a foreign-born parent." A study at Bradford Royal Infirmary found that 80% of babies of Pakistani ethnicity had at least one parent born outside the UK.

The report contains some devastating criticism of current government policy and practice:

"Too many public institutions, national and local, state and non-state, have gone so far to accommodate diversity and freedom of expression that they have ignored or even condoned regressive, divisive and harmful cultural and religious practices, for fear of being branded racist or Islamophobic."

"At its most serious, it might mean public sector leaders ignoring harm or denying abuse."

"Some public institutions have stepped back and let groups attempt to undermine efforts to prevent terrorism and further alienate the communities we need to engage and protect – whether that is from terrorist radicalisers, perpetrators of violence and hate, criminal gangs or groomers intent on exploiting and abusing vulnerable people."

In relation to Islam in particular, the report highlights evidence of discrimination in sharia councils that operate in this country. It also discusses the problems arising from unregistered marriages and polygamous 'marriages' that appear to be "more commonplace than might be expected." As the report says in this context:

"We must put a stop to cases where, in the name of religion, women and children are given short shrift, discriminated against and denied the rights that this country provides for everyone."

The report also warns:

"We found a growing sense of grievance among sections of the Muslim population, and a stronger sense of identification with the plight of the 'Ummah', or global Muslim community."

It is very clear then, that a segregated society has emerged from the promotion of multicultural relativism in Britain. Instead of an imagined multicultural utopia, we in fact have a plurality of segregated monocultures. Multiculturalism has failed and damaged our society. Although Islam is not the focus of this report, it is rightly singled out for the segregation it has promoted and established in this country. Everyone agrees there is a problem here. Dame Louise Casey said that "none of the 800 or more people that we met, nor any of the two hundred plus written submissions to the review, said there wasn't a problem to solve." So what are the solutions?

Some Solutions

Though Dame Louise Casey is robust in exposing the problems, her policy recommendations are remarkably weak. They amount in substance to promoting integration by measuring it and identifying best practice; promoting the proverbial 'British values', but also British laws and history; and considering the introduction of an integration oath for immigrants, and a new oath for holders of public office. These are useful initial steps, but there is much more that can and should be done.

Perhaps I can suggest some more robust responses to the various problems outlined. The problem is big and it will not just go away or be solved by promoting integration and British values, or insisting on taking oaths. There are, however, several clear and tangible steps that can be taken. Here are ten ideas to start with, in no particular order.

First, adopt Baroness Cox's Bill to curb the operation of sharia courts thus protecting the fundamental principle of one law for all.

Second, enforce registration of religious marriages so as to protect the rights of women and prevent a culture of polygamy arising. (This policy is recommended on page 135 of the report.)

Third, ban the face veil in public to show that oppression and subjugation of women is objectively wrong, and to promote integration.

Fourth, tighten up the marriage visa rules so that we reduce the "first generation in every generation" phenomenon.

Fifth, hold police forces accountable for treating all people equally under the law regardless of their background culture, religion, or ethnicity. This would stop police forces from turning a 'blind eye' to offences committed by ethnic minorities for fear of being branded 'racist', as happened in Rotherham.

Sixth, stop promoting Islamic finance which only serves to promote a radical interpretation of the Qur'an and to hinder integration.

Seventh, unashamedly identify this nation as a Christian country whose laws and culture are based around Biblical values which are objectively better for society as a whole, and therefore also promote the teaching of the Bible and Christianity in schools.

Eighth, rather than insisting that that all religions should be respected, the government should robustly defend free speech so that people are clearly able expose the discriminatory nature of Islam and the falsity of its teaching without fear of prosecution for religious harassment.

Ninth, ban foreign funding of Islam in the UK. Islamic countries see funding of Mosque building overseas as a way of expanding the influence of their own forms of Islam. This should be stopped.

Tenth, reduce overall levels of immigration. Everyone agrees that integration is not working so we need to reduce the absolute numbers of immigrants in order to facilitate some progress on integration, otherwise continued high levels of immigration just exacerbates the problem.

It is only with robust policies like these that we will start to properly deal with the problem. Dame Casey’s review is a step forward in acknowledging and describing the extent of the problem we face. What we now need is more people to agree that robust action is required to tackle it.