Immigration, integration and social cohesion

Crime, culture and immigration: we must uphold justice and the principle of equal treatment before the law, reject racism and collective guilt, and defend the values of a free society.

Today, we learn, “Seven men have been found guilty of sexually exploiting two teenage girls who were repeatedly raped and assaulted in Rochdale for five years.” The details are sickening.

Crimes of this nature are horrific and must be punished without fear or favour. They are also, rightly, a source of national debate. Past experience shows the importance of upholding the principle of individual guilt: we are all equal under the law, and no ethnic or religious group bears collective blame for such depravity.

How should a free society navigate these issues?

Grooming gang guilty of raping and abusing girls

One thing we can say for sure: it will not be through referring concerned citizens to Prevent as if they were potential terrorists. Via The Telegraph,

An online training course hosted on the Government’s website for Prevent lists “cultural nationalism” as a belief that could lead to an individual being referred to the deradicalisation scheme.

This encompasses a conviction that “Western culture is under threat from mass migration and a lack of integration by certain ethnic and cultural groups”, staff taking the course are told.

Meanwhile, our Prime Minister, speaking from the left, said the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers”. As so often, the state machinery cannot manage consistency.

The right path forwards requires dramatically curtailing immigration and rediscovering the principles of a free society. In relation to the rape of children by gangs, of course the only viable approach is zero tolerance under the rule of law applied equally to all.

Zero tolerance: the politics of child sexual exploitation by gangs

After 14 years in Parliament representing the highly diverse seat of Wycombe¹, I have some strong views on the right and wrong approaches to immigration, integration and social cohesion. Wycombe is over 20% Asian, being mostly Muslims of Kashmiri heritage, with a large Caribbean community and many other ethnicities, races and religions represented.

Wycombe by ethnic group (Commons Library)

Yes, there have been and will be problems, including serious criminality, but overall, integration is at high levels and cohesion is good. There is reason to be optimistic with the right policies and attitude.