New UK commission aims to tackle extremism

LONDON, Aug 25 (Reuters) British communities must work together to root out extremism, a cabinet minister said yesterday, as the government unveiled a new body to help promote social cohesion.

Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, speaking at the launch of the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, said it was time for a ''new and honest debate'' about what was causing segregation.

Kelly said it was important to assess whether the promotion of a multicultural society had actually helped contribute towards the seclusion of some communities.

''I believe ... we have moved from a period of uniform consensus on the value of multiculturalism to one where we can encourage that debate by questioning whether it is encouraging separateness,'' she told a conference in south London.

''In our attempts to avoid imposing a single British identity and culture, have we ended up with some communities living in isolation of each other with no common bonds between them?'' ''I think we face the clear possibility that we're experiencing diversity, no longer as a country, but as a set of local communities.'' She said diversity was a huge asset and immigration had helped boost the economy, but warned it meant global tensions were now being reflected on Britain's streets.

''NON-NEGOTIABLE RULES'' ''Even within the framework of mutual tolerance, I believe that there are non-negotiable rules understood by all groups,'' she said.

''Those who seek to cause conflicts and tension in our communities must be marginalised by the responsible majority.'' The commission is being launched two weeks after police said they had thwarted a plot by British Islamists to blow up transatlantic airliners.

It again threw the spotlight onto Britain's Muslim community which critics have accused of not doing enough to tackle extremism.

However Muslim leaders in return say the government is not giving them enough help.

Following last year's suicide bomb attacks on London, the government set up a Muslim task force to examine why many young men felt alienated.

However many Muslims described the initiative as little more than a publicity stunt that did little to address underlying problems.

Kelly said the new commission ''is not and must not be a talking shop''.

''It's a practical exercise which will look at what actually works for communities on the ground,'' she said.

The commission will aim to extend research carried out in the aftermath of serious race riots in northern England in 2001.

Inquiries following that violence reported that many communities were totally divided with little or no contact between ethnic groups, fuelling tension and suspicion.

''We will want to focus on how we can break down divisions that exist between communities and we will certainly want to focus on the practical things that communities can do to tackle extremists in their midst,'' said Darra Singh, the commission's chairman.

Its findings will be made in a report next June and Singh admitted they did not have much time.

''There's no more important issue than how we get on with our neighbours. The commission is a real opportunity to get to grips with this challenge'' he added.

REUTERS SKU PM0957