Social Cohesion and Community during Periods of Change

Lord Jackson of Peterborough Excerpts

Friday 6th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome this debate and I warmly congratulate my noble friend Lord Sharma on his impassioned maiden speech and welcome him to the House: he will make a great contribution.

How do we define social cohesion? What do we mean by social solidarity, shared values and social mobility? Finding unity in the midst of our diversity is our task. It is a social contract between different communities and an acceptance and championing of the liberal British values of freedom of speech, equality under the law, freedom of expression, democracy, fairness, equality of opportunity, mutual respect, neighbourliness, philanthropy and kindness. It also means a shared understanding of what makes our country: culture, civic engagement, history and heritage. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe in its 2023 report listed

“sense of recognition”

and

“sense of belonging”

as key to social cohesion.

Notwithstanding the big global events—including conflict and uncertainty abroad—that have been discussed earlier, we have to address the realities of life and the challenges here in the UK. Frankly, the UK has never been richer, healthier, more peaceful and safer. Yet, things are going wrong and people are unhappy. Many people do not feel a sense of community and cohesion. They feel alienated from politics and government, bystanders in their own country and at the margins of decision making and economic prosperity. As far back as 2011, YouGov found that the majority of people agreed with the statement:

“Britain has changed in recent times beyond recognition, it sometimes feels like a foreign country, and this makes me feel uncomfortable”.


Certainly, mass uncontrolled and unfettered immigration has been disastrous for true community cohesion, because it has occurred without the imperative of true integration and the upholding of our social contract. It is a fair social contract: welcome to the UK, try to speak English, work hard, obey the law, do not claim benefits, respect the UK’s enduring traditions, and make and build a better life. Mass migration has undermined social and community cohesion, as has hyper-social liberalism, globalisation and ultra-individualism.

On 28 November, the Prime Minister said that Britain had been subject to

“an open borders experiment … This happened by design, not accident … Brexit was used … to turn Britain into a one nation experiment in open borders”.

We have seen the consequences: the stalled per capita GDP, which has catalysed ghettoisation and social isolation, embedded welfare dependency and put huge pressures on our public services. We have seen the pernicious impact of social media among young people—as the most reverend Primate the Archbishop of York stated—with the woke mind virus spreading and exacerbating discord between disparate groups by sex, gender, class, race, religion and ethnicity. We have seen the inability of Governments to deliver the most basic public services, despite record-high taxes and the burden on the working poor and small businesses while regulators fail to deal effectively with market distortions, dysfunction, monopolies, oligopolies and crony capitalism.

All these phenomena undermine the essence of community and social cohesion. It is why we have seen a rejection of the tired, visionless, managerialist political consensus in favour of communitarian politics: the politics of somewhere rather than anywhere, which recognises the importance of cultural and geographical rootedness for human well-being. It also sees local and national identity as wholesome and important, and values well-established traditional structures: family, sports clubs, village, town, county, country, parish. The ethos of social and economic liberalism by contrast represents selfish, egomaniacal, consumerist individualism. This gives rise to a lack of purpose, hopelessness, sadness, depression, lack of self-worth, worklessness and crime.

There was a time when many people would look to the traditional institutions, such as the Church of England, for guidance in a troubling world. But no more. The report published this week by Civitas, entitled Restoring the Value of Parishes, is a salutary and depressing critique of the leadership and management of the Anglican Church. I implore those on the Bishops’ Benches to return to the core role at the centre of our local and national life. Their centrality is vital in nourishing the parish network and providing spiritual sustenance, pastoral care, moral clarity and a framework to an anxious and discombobulated flock. My Church has lost its way and I hope and trust the Anglican family will recover its sense of purpose under a new leader.

Despite this, there is still hope. The UK remains one of the most successful examples of a multi-ethnic democracy in the modern world. I am indebted to Policy Exchange and its recently published report, A Portrait of Modern Britain: Ethnicity and Religion, which highlights the importance of fostering shared experiences and the bonds of social trust between different ethnic groups and across generations. It makes the sensible point that the term “ethnic minority” is increasingly meaningless. The Indian diaspora is different from the Afro-Caribbean, African, White British or Chinese communities and their experiences. But all believe:

“On balance, throughout history, Britain has been a force for good in the world”,


and:

“Children who are raised in Britain should be taught to be proud of Britain and its history”.


Indeed, we should celebrate such inclusive patriotism, our country’s record of industrial and scientific achievements, our proud history of parliamentary democracy and our abolition of the slave trade, when Wilberforce was not only the MP for Hull but also a Conservative. We should celebrate Magna Carta and our role in destroying the evil of Nazism and fascism in the Second World War. We should celebrate too our unifying moments, such as the 2012 Olympic opening ceremony in London, the vaccine rollout and Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

Over 50% of black and minority-ethnic Britons believe that someone of their race would be treated fairly in this country, and only one-fifth disagree. I endorse the report’s recommendations and invite the Minister to address these specific suggestions: a new national integration strategy, with the public sector equality duty interpreted to have integration at its heart; the creation of a statues of national celebration commission to identify historical British figures deserving of a statue, across all classes and ethnic groups; children to be taught to be proud of their national heritage and British history and traditions; reducing UK immigration dependency by developing new apprenticeships and skills bursaries; the Government agreeing to revivify the strategy to tackle place-based health inequalities; and for government agencies to disaggregate larger groups that are both ethnically and religiously diverse.

In conclusion, we live in a great country with a glorious history and heritage of which we should all be proud. Our challenge, for us and our children, is to bequeath a nation with a future that is safe, prosperous, proud, happy and united.