THE PAREKH REPORT [6]

‘England, Scotland and Wales are at a turning point in their history. They could become narrow and inward-looking, with rifts between themselves and among their regions and communities, or they could develop as a community of citizens and communities. Britain as a whole could be such a community, and so could each part or region, and each city, town and neighbourhood. Building and sustaining a community of citizens and communities involve:

• rethinking the national story and national identity;
• understanding that all identities are in a process of transition;
• developing a balance between cohesion, equality and difference;
• addressing and eliminating all forms of racism;
• reducing material inequalities;
• building a pluralistic human rights culture.’

And:

‘Many customary images of Britain are England centred - and, indeed, southern England-centred - and leave many millions of people out of the picture. Increasingly, in Scotland and Wales people have a sense of multiple identity. Englishness is also in the process of being redefined. People in Britain have many differences, but they inhabit the same space and share the same future. All have a role in the collective project of fashioning Britain as an outward-looking, generous, inclusive society.’

The above quotes are from the Executive Summary of the Parekh Report.

The Executive Summary is quite detailed and consists of an overall summary as well as a summary for each chapter - all 21 of them. This allows the reader can see what he has to look forward to!

For example, the summary for Chapter 2, Rethinking the National Story, states:

‘A state is not only a territorial and political entity, but also an “imagined community”. What is Britain’s understanding of itself? How are the histories of England, Scotland and Wales understood by their people? Of what may citizens be justly proud? How has the imagined nation stood the test of time? What should be preserved, what jettisoned, what revised or reworked? How can everyone have a recognised place within the larger picture? These are questions about Britain as an imagined community, and about how a genuinely multicultural Britain urgently needs to reimagine itself. Among other things, such reimagining must take account of the inescapable changes of the last 30 years - not only postwar migration but also devolution, globalisation, the end of empire, Britain’s long-term decline as a world power, moral and cultural pluralism, and closer integration with Europe.’

The above extracts show that the report and its writers were unquestioningly committed to a multicultural society. They were also taken with the notion of ‘rethinking’/’reimagining’ Britain. What they really mean of course, is that history should be rewritten to suit the purposes of the politically correct. That history should become a lie.

The report is hostile to the concept of English nationhood, notwithstanding the devolution of power to Scottish and Welsh parliaments. The report prefers to blur the issue of national identity and advocates the concept of multiple identity.

The report is dictatorial and elitist. It assumes that it is for the politically correct elite to decide the culture of the nation and not the ordinary people. In fact in a democracy it is not for an elite, no matter how righteous it considers itself to be, to decide ‘what should be preserved, what jettisoned, what revised or reworked?’ - regarding a nation’s culture. Nor is it the role of an elite to tell ordinary people what they are allowed to believe.

Such elitism and intolerance is incompatible with democracy and a free society, and this country is still a democracy and a free society, although such values are continually eroded.

This very Monday, 28 November 2005, there was a conference in London regarding the ‘Values of Britishness’. The speakers at this conference included David Cameron MP who delivered the Keynote Address, and:

Rt Hon Jack McConnell MSP, First Minister of Scotland
Lord Neil Kinnock, Chairman of the British Council
Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary General, Muslim Council
Professor Tariq Modood, Department of Sociology, University of Bristol
Trevor Phillips, Chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality
Professor Lord Bhiku Parekh, Centre for the Study of Democracy, University of Westminster

There were also speakers, including Sir Gulam Noon, to represent business.

It is presumed that Mr Cameron, who apparently believes that political correctness encourages politeness, was the English representative. This is what is known as equality.

That Lord Parekh is still around dispensing his views on Britishness is positively galling.