Too little too late?

[Troll]

In a speech at Downing Street, Mr Blair said that tolerance was "what makes Britain, Britain" and warned "we must be ready to defend this attitude".
The prime minister said: "So conform to it; or don't come here. We don't want the hate-mongers, whatever their race, religion or creed."

He also defended multiculturalism, saying it should be celebrated.
The lecture comes a year after Mr Blair said he never quite knew what people meant by multiculturalism.
The right to be different. The duty to integrate. That is what being British means

Mr Blair said: "It is not that we need to dispense with multicultural Britain.
"On the contrary, we should continue celebrating it."
Conservative spokesman for community cohesion Dominic Grieve said the speech was a "remarkable turnaround".

"Many of the problems in relation to the issues he addresses are at least in part the consequence of a philosophy of divisive multiculturalism and political correctness that has been actively promoted by the Labour Party over many years at both national and local government levels."

Duty to integrate
In the speech, Mr Blair also announced a crackdown on funding for religious and racial groups, saying in the future they would have to prove they aimed to promote community integration.
It was important to demonstrate what integration meant, Mr Blair said.
"The right to be in a multi-cultural society was always implicitly balanced by a duty to integrate, to be part of Britain, to be British and Asian, British and black, British and white."

The suicide bombings in London on July 7 last year had thrown the whole concept of a multicultural Britain "into sharp relief", the prime minister said.
The prime minister put the speech in the context of Muslim extremism, associated with "a minority of our Muslim community".
He said there was optimism that people could be integrated despite different cultures.

And he said the Equal Opportunities Commission would be looking at concerns About women's status inside Muslim communities.
A spokesman for the Muslim Association of Britain said Mr Blair's speech was "concerning and alarming".

He said Mr Blair should be "investing in our society" to help the deprived, rather than investing "millions and billions in illegal occupations" which had "not helped to promote multiculturalism in this country".

"Rather than standing up and lecturing us, it's time he puts his money where his mouth is," he said.

A very remarkable turnaround

[hyperD]

I think you'll find there will be quite a few turnarounds next year in any area that shows the conservatives having a lead over liebour as revealed in their private polls.

[bogeyman]

Mr Blair said: "It is not that we need to dispense with multicultural Britain.
"On the contrary, we should continue celebrating it."

Why is it that multiculturalism (and it's pal Diversity) always has to be 'celebrated'.

Can't we just 'tolerate' it, 'abide' it, 'applaud' it or even 'despise' it?

But hey! let's all celebrate multiculturalism

[hyperD]

A: Multiculturalism and diversity mean being different hence a multicultural society means one that consists of more than one group.

B: Integration: making multiple groups join into one.

Bliar wants people to integrate to make multiculturalism work.

A <> B and does not compute.

bliar hasn't a fecking clue or is desperate to appeal to a growing concern amongst the swing voters.

[Francko]

A: Multiculturalism and diversity mean being different hence a multicultural society means one that consists of more than one group.

B: Integration: making multiple groups join into one.

Bliar wants people to integrate to make multiculturalism work.

A <> B and does not compute.

bliar hasn't a fecking clue or is desperate to appeal to a growing concern amongst the swing voters.

Not really. Integration means to tolerate the differences as long as they don't hurt anybody else.

[wendigo100]

There wouldn't be half the problem if his government hadn't lost control of our ports. He never mentioned that.

[bogeyman]

if his government hadn't lost control of our ports

They should have installed a decent firewall then.

Ok. I'll get my coat.

[hyperD]

Not really. Integration means to tolerate the differences as long as they don't hurt anybody else.

Hence as time tends to infinity, integration increases as differences tend to zero

I = k/d
t → ∞

where

I = integration
k = fn( ∑ Mullahs, Liebour, Chavs, BNP, Polish Cleaners, Livingstone, 
London Pigeons, John Reid, Reality TV, Green Belt, Housing Benefits,
Population Density)
d = differences between people

[BoredBloke]

and then you get reports like this....

Minister avoids migrant forecast

Romanians may face work restrictions
Britain's immigration chief has refused to speculate on how many Bulgarians and Romanians will come to the UK when the two countries join the EU next month.
Immigration minister Liam Byrne said: "It would be very unwise to make predictions about flows."

New EU migrants will face work curbs after concerns about the potential impact on local schools, hospitals and housing, Mr Byrne told MPs.

But all Romanians and Bulgarians will be free to live in the UK, he said.

Asked by Conservative MP David Heathcoat-Amory how this would prevent people coming to the UK to work in the "black economy", Mr Byrne said the restrictions on working were not an attempt to limit immigration.

"It's an error to say that we are trying to manage migration in this way, ultimately people from Romania and Bulgaria do have the right of free movement into this country and that's just a deal we signed up to when we signed up to the accession treaty.

"What we can do is exercise our derogation on controlling access to the labour market. That does have knock-on implications for access to benefits."

Inflation

Home Secretary John Reid recently unveiled a package of penalties to enforce a 20,000 cap on the number of migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria.

But, appearing before a joint session of the Commons Home Affairs and European Scrutiny Committees, Mr Byrne said: "While there is the possibility that people can come and work self-employed, I think there is the potential for abuse."

He said Britain's policy was not to close the door to workers from the two countries "forever" but for an initial 12 month period to fully assess the impact of the first wave of new EU migrants.

He also wanted to make sure there were stronger safeguards in place to prevent illegal working - something he said would happen over the next 12 months.

He insisted it had not been a mistake to admit workers from former Eastern Bloc countries, arguing it had had a positive impact on the British economy, particularly in reducing inflation.

Local services

But he told the committee: "There has been anecdotal information of specific and isolated pressures.

"So, for example, some local schools we know have struggled to cope, we know some local authorities in different parts of the country have reported pressures typically of private housing - while that evidence exists I think it is incumbent on the government to understand it in a bit better detail."

He said he wanted local councils to be given better and more rapid access to information on migration flows to help them plan services.

But he also told the committee he could not say how many migrants would come to Britain from Bulgaria and Romania.

In 2003, research commissioned by the home office predicted 13,000 migrants workers would come to the UK after eight Eastern European countries joined the EU.

In the event about 600,000 migrants have arrived so far, mainly from Poland.

'Political decision'

Committee chairman John Denham said: "The position today seems to be that the home office has decided that given that experience we would rather not ask the question at all when it comes to Bulgaria and Romania.

"Because it would seem nobody has even attempted to estimate what might happen or what the implication of your new policy is."

Mr Byrne replied: "I think the committee would draw its own conclusions about the value for money that the home office obtained when it commissioned this research and perhaps even the National Audit Office would be interested."

He said ministers had been fully aware of the potential weaknesses in the research and the decision to open the door to Eastern European workers had been a "political" one.

"Very often political decisions are made without perfect information," Mr Byrne told the committee.

"The choice that we had to make here is not 'do we stop migration from Bulgaria and Romania forever?', it was simply a question of how quickly we open access to our labour market."

'Risks'

He said it was right to take a gradual approach until impacts could be "fully understood".

Labour MP Ann Cryer asked if the new curbs "may just increase the number of people who are bogus self-employed migrants or who are undeclared workers".

Mr Byrne said there were always "risks" of abuse with any "restrictive regime".

But he said the UK home office had been working with the Bulgarian and Romanian governments on tackling organised crime gangs, which were mainly behind illegal immigration.

"When you have got a situation where pretty much all the big European economies are making the same decisions as us, that gives me cause for comfort," he added.

================================================== =====

i.e. we have lost control of the situation and have not got a clue how many to expect. feckers!

[Troll]

In a further example that the values and aspirations of Islam are antithetical to those of the United Kingdom, Croydon Council has instituted ‘Muslim only’ swimming times in its public swimming baths.Mr Croydonian will only be admitted if he conforms to Shari’a law and wears shorts that hide the navel and cover the knees.

Croydon Mosque states quite unequivocally: ‘Muslims are not allowed to show off intimate parts of their body. This is non-negotiable. Muslims have as much right to go swimming as anyone else.’

What would be the outcry in Northern Ireland or Scotland if there were 'Protestant only' swimming times? How would the Mohammedans react if Christians started to insist on non-negotiable Christian-only hours in the public services? Cries of ‘racism’? Religious discrimination? Insults to ‘The Prophet’? ‘Behead those who oppose the Shari’a swim’?

By adopting Islamic practices, Croydon Council is unwittingly conforming to the demands of the Dar-al-harb – the House of War. In Islamic theology, this is a battle that rages until there is a victor, and a vanquished…

And this kind of thing helps how?