Multiculturalism

Lord Hannay of Chiswick Excerpts

Tuesday 11th October 2011 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, it is a three-year scheme, so at this stage I cannot absolutely confirm that it will continue, but I can confirm that we attach enormous importance to it and are extremely grateful for the church’s involvement in that fund. We will certainly want to assess its results. Following its successful launch this summer, we are going to scale up the scheme next year to give up to 30,000 16 year-olds the chance to meet with young people from different backgrounds. The church is providing a very strong lead on this.

[Lord Hannay of Chiswick]

My Lords, would the noble Baroness agree, having wisely ducked the request to define multiculturalism, that it might really be better if everyone including Ministers—and including the Prime Minister—stopped talking about this as an “ism” at all? It is utterly misleading to do so. It would surely be better, as I think the noble Baroness has started to do in her replies, to address the issues, in a society that is necessarily, and will continue to be, multicultural.

[Baroness Hanham]

My Lords, “ism” or not, the word is in the vernacular one way or another. I do not think it matters whether it is an “ism”; it matters what we mean about trying to ensure that people are supported in their own cultures so that, by definition, they are made—not made, but supported—to integrate into this community. We are perhaps still, despite what has happened recently, one of the most tolerant societies. We have one of the largest numbers of nationalities living here and, however one defines it or whatever one says—multicultural or multiculturalism—we know what we mean and understand that what we mean is trying to provide a homogeneous community.