Cameron’s statement that “multiculturalism has failed” is clearly nonsense

By Diane Abbott MP / @HackneyAbbott

David Cameron’s attack on multiculturalism is depressingly opportunistic. It was partly a conscious echo of his host German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Last year Merkel made a statement claiming that “attempts at integration have failed”. She too was pandering to the right and, no doubt, was flattered by Cameron playing “Little Echo”.

But Cameron banging the anti-foreigner drum was primarily aimed at his own right wing. Restless about the coalition and anxious at the lack of tax cuts, the Tory right (and media fellow travellers) must have been reassured by what Cameron had to say about black and brown Britons.

Cameron’s statement that “multiculturalism has failed” is clearly nonsense. Not only is London a spectacular example of a multitude of cultures living side by side. But it is precisely London’s multiculturalism that makes it economically, socially and culturally so vibrant. Campaigning for the Olympics we were proud to talk about the multicultural nature of our society: “London, a world in one city.” Now Cameron chooses to attack diversity.

Of course there are cities outside London where a sad segregation is the order of the day. That is, largely, caused by racism. Some people are frightened of racist attacks; others are the victim of tacit discrimination by estate agents or sometimes even council house allocation. But the evidence is that, as ethnic minorities go up the social ladder, they naturally move out from the inner city and gradually integrate. So complaining about people living in inner city ghettos is simply blaming the victim.

And it patronising for Cameron to talk about the importance of immigrants adopting British values. To my knowledge there were no more passionate adherents of “British values” than the first generation of West Indian immigrants. Immigrants generally are pro-British. After all they have chosen to come here. Attitudes to British foreign policy are another matter. But for Cameron to conflate opposition to the Iraq war with somehow being anti-British is intellectually dishonest.

Some of the Cameron speech was simply recycling far-right verities. For instance:

“when a white person holds objectionable views we rightly condemn them, but when equally unacceptable views or practices come from someone who isn’t white, we’ve been too cautious to stand up to them.”

The notion that white people are somehow victims in their own land is the standard BNP line. The facts do not bear this out. Black and brown Britons are disproportionately more likely to be unemployed (even when they have exactly the same qualifications as their white peer group), disproportionately more likely to end up in prison (even though there is no evidence that BME Britons overall are more criminal), and disproportionately more likely to end up in mental hospitals.

A recent survey by an American foundation revealed that six out of ten British people believed that immigration was the biggest problem facing the country. This is twice the proportion of countries like Germany and the Netherlands. Yet those countries have much higher proportions of foreign-born residents. The high anxiety about immigration in Britain is partly because, not a day goes past without an immigration scare story in some part of the media. But it is also due to mainstream politicians being willing to play the anti-multiculturalism/ anti-immigrant card.

Tory supporters may be pleased that Cameron is attacking our multicultural society. The rest of us will be aware that his mask has slipped.