Kelly’s speech is worrying. Usually such a speech is planned months in advance. Are we to believe that the fact it comes a week of the Heathrow arrests is a coincidence?

She is not really talking about culture or multiculturalism. There is no mention of racial discrimination. She is concerned about what political and economic agenda black people should adhere to.

It is actually arguing for a change in policies regarding race from race equality back to race relations. That is turning back the clock to the Sixties and Seventies. Racial equality is eliminating discrimination based on race. Race relations is ensuring that black and white people 'get on' on the basis that black people don't complain about racial abuse and discrimination.

In the Sixties, you had some community relations councils that was led by former colonial police officers. Black activism with support from progressive white people challenged the black inferiority propaganda and eventually secured theoretical commitment to racial equality.

7/7 is being used as a stick to beat UK black people. Muslims and black people are ignorant about it, are mesmerised by it, and end up falling for it. This enables the elite to seek to turn the clock back.

It is difficult for black people to publicly state that 7/7 and the war on terror is a massive, sophisticated hoax perpetrated by the Anglo-American establishment. Yet, research by Nafeez Ahmed (‘The London Bombings: an independent inquiry’) demonstrates that Al-Qaida are merely mercenaries fulfilling Anglo-American, geopolitical interests – neo-liberal economics plus oil and gas pipelines and fields. Dutch intelligence has demonstrated that in 1993/94, the US and UK flew members of the Bin Laden network into Bosnia. Their attacks against the Serbs sparked the Yugoslavian civil war. Yet, this was two years after Bin Laden declared war on the US and bombed US soldiers. Meanwhile, the first reports about the 7/7 explosives were that they were military grade and from Bosnia.

Think about it. Why are the countries with the most developed Al-Qaida networks, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the closest US-UK regional allies?

What Kelly is really saying is:
- problems faced by second and third generation immigrants is not about racism but about them adapting to UK values;
- immigrants bring their foreign pathologies (e.g. violent Muslim fundamentalism) to the UK;
multiculturalism means white people no longer feel they are adequately benefiting from positive discrimination
local authority funds going to Black-run community organisations should diverted to JobCentres or pseudo-JobCentres
black people should adhere to a white-produced social and political agenda
the new ‘integration’ commission should overshadow any anti-discrimination work the watered-down Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

In the 1980s, I attended a Conservative Party fringe in the Eighties hosted by a member of the Guinness family. The fringe organisers had a cartoon showing a dustbin pouring black people on to a map of the UK. Organisers claimed that imperialism was a good thing because it promoted work ethic in the black colonies. They were a fringe group in the Conservative Party that represented a section of the British elite that missed the Empire. Kelly is not going to adapt their agenda but she has taken her cue from them.

The Black response should:
- assert that there is a problem of politics not culture;
- rubbish this new Commission;
- reject diversity and assert anti-racism as the best means to promote integration;
- assert the need for a body with more powers to tackle racial discrimination;
- assert that violent Muslim extremism is fringe and their violence should be treated as criminality not terrorism;
- reject the use of 7/7 to determine policy on race, and
- get educated about the war on terror/Al-Qaida hoax.




Extracts from the Ruth Kelly speech

…I believe it is time now to engage in a new and honest debate about integration and cohesion in the UK. If we are to have an effective, progressive response to these issues, then we must be honest about the challenges we face and be prepared to meet these head on with renewed energy and impetus. …

…And one of the outcomes of that complexity - and increased global interconnectedness - is that global tensions are being reflected on the streets of local communities. New migrants protect the fierce loyalties developed in war-torn parts of Europe. Muslims feel the reverberations from the Middle East. Wider global trends have an impact. Some new migrants will put down roots. Some will move on, and find other work or return to their families. …

…As time passes, the challenges of integration become more apparent to those who have settled here. Second and third generation immigrants can face a struggle. Not to adapt to life in the UK - but to reconcile their own values and beliefs with those of their parents and grandparents. Young people may be seen as Pakistani on the streets of Burnley, but many feel out of place and "British" when they visit Pakistan. …

…And for some communities in particular, we need to acknowledge that life in Britain has started to feel markedly different since the attacks on 9/11 in New York and on 7/7 in London - even more so since the events of two weeks ago. …

…And as this complex picture evolves, there are white Britons who do not feel comfortable with change. They see the shops and restaurants in their town centres changing. They see their neighbourhoods becoming more diverse. Detached from the benefits of those changes, they begin to believe the stories about ethnic minorities getting special treatment, and to develop a resentment, a sense of grievance. …

…I believe this is why 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. …

…It is on this ground that this Commission can add most value. It is not, and must not be, a talking shop. It is a practical exercise which will look at what actually works for communities on the ground. It will act as a catalyst for change, by ensuring that, not only do we know what works, but that we are able to share this information and "scale up" those things that really make a difference. …

…It will also look at how we can encourage local authorities and community organization to play a greater role in ensuring new migrants better integrate into our communities and fill labour market shortages. For example, increasing the availability of English teaching, mapping where local jobs exist, ensuring that migrants are able to develop a sense of belonging, with shared values and local understanding, as we underline their responsibility to integrate and contribute to the local community. …

…Local communities are developing Charters of Values, or local Citizens' Days, that aim to develop a sense of belonging in multicultural towns and cities. …

…And there are more specialised projects such as the work in Bradford aimed at developing a citizenship curriculum for Madrassas. …

…It is also clear that our ideas and policies should not be based on special treatment for minority ethnic or faith communities. …

…And I also want to see a clear understanding that although fundamental rights must be equal for everyone, with rights come responsibilities. Even within a framework of mutual tolerance, I believe that there are non-negotiable rules, understood by all groups, both new and established. We must be clear and unafraid to say that we expect these will be shared and followed by all who live here. …