I think there is evidence sufficient to justify an inquiry into the alleged infiltration of several Birmingham schools. It might be The Telegraph, but Andrew Gilligan makes a compelling case. All that matters now is that investigations proceed in due course. It is entirely unhelpful and downright opportunist for various papers and the Tories to scrabble for lurid headlines and knee jerk policy announcements, none of which has anything to do with the rise of UKIP and the need to shore up one’s core vote.
While I’m not going to write about the Trojan Horse allegations as such (if only more people kept schtum about things which they know little), our beloved Prime Minister has said something interesting for once. As our Secretary of State for Education has demanded schools teach something called ‘British values’, Dave has had a stab at defining this most vexatious and slippery of terms.
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Tagged with Identity
Muslims ‘are more patriotic than most British people’
The highly respected, independent think tank Demos, have produced a new report on patriotism. Some of its findings will challenge some widespread opinions. For a starter, they found British Muslims have a greater sense of national pride than the average UK citizen.
When asked to agree or disagree with the question ‘I’m proud to be a British citizen’, 83% of Muslims said they agreed. The figure for non-Muslims was 79%. Continue reading
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Britain could be a model unhappy family
Like so many others, the history of my family straddles the nations of mainland Britain. My father’s north Wales relatives have been Welsh-speaking nationalists for generations. And yet my grandfather was a hero in his village when he joined Britain’s merchant navy at the peak of the empire. A proud Welsh identity meant something very different to my great uncle, who played for the Independent Labour party’s football team in the 1930s. He represented a passionate blend of Methodism and socialism; class solidarity had the edge over national allegiance. Continue reading
