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Blears to insist on 'core values' British values 'must be defended'
(about 8 hours later)
Hazel Blears has said people must not be over-sensitive in challenging ideas that conflict with British values. People must be more willing to challenge ideas that conflict with core British values, the communities secretary has said.
The minister said there was a need to be "a lot clearer" about respect for others, equality before the law, free speech and tackling discrimination. Hazel Blears said there was too much "squeamishness" about condemning unacceptable practices, like forced marriages, for fear of causing offence.
Practices like forced marriages and female genital mutilation needed to be challenged, she said. Debate about the role of religion was "being sapped by a creeping over-sensitivity", she argued in a speech.
"It's not about attacking people's culture it's about saying in this country we have certain bottom lines." She also said it could be possible to engage with extremist groups.
The communities secretary is due to give a speech later on government contact with individuals and groups which promote extremism. However Ms Blears said negotiation could only be held with groups that did not advocate violence.
Radical rhetoric 'Dividing line'
Ms Blears is urging a "dividing line" between those embracing and rejecting British "core values". "Leaving the field clear" to such groups, rather than challenging their views and trying to change them, would undermine efforts to tackle extremist behaviour, she said in a speech at the London School of Economics.
She told BBC Radio Five Live: "I'm saying we need to be clearer in setting out what we think is right, what we think is wrong, challenging the views of people which are extremist and do not support the values we have in Britain - and I do think we need to be clear about that." Earlier, Ms Blears told the BBC that the "overwhelming majority" of people in Britain shared the same values and there must be a "dividing line" between those embracing and rejecting British "core values".
It will be seen as a warning to Muslim groups that they will not be engaged with unless they end radical rhetoric. There were clear boundaries about what was acceptable in British society, the communities secretary said.
There is a need for moral clarity, a dividing line rooted in our overriding sense of what is right and wrong Hazel Blears We would do well to be a little less anxious and a little more robust Hazel Blears
Ms Blears told the BBC there were clear boundaries about what was tolerated in British society - but sometimes people over-reacted and were worried about offending other faiths, when it was not necessary. But people's fear of causing offence and consequent unwillingness to defend what was clearly reasonable and sensible had gone too far, she suggested.
And she said people needed to understand other religions better and pointed to examples of people mistakenly fearing Christmas celebrations would offend faiths. Situations, for instance, where people were afraid to put up Christmas decorations because they believed they would offend different faiths or the recent case of a nurse - a practicing Christian - who was suspended after offering to pray for a patient flew in the face of common sense.
"Sometimes I think we overestimate people's sensitivities and it leads us to make decisions that are not entirely sensible." "The pendulum has swung too far," she argued.
And she said the "overwhelming majority" of people in Britain shared the same values. "The quality of debate about religion in contemporary life - and by religion, I mean all faiths - is being sapped by a creeping over-sensitivity.
"What I don't want to see happen is because people are frightened almost of offending people they are not even prepared to talk about issues." "At times leaders have been reluctant to challenge absolutely unacceptable behaviour - forced marriage, female genital mutilation or homophobia - because they are concerned about upsetting people's cultural sensitivities."
She denied the speech was a jibe at Harriet Harman, the Labour deputy behind the Equalities Bill who has been at the centre of leadership speculation. She added: "We would do well to be a little less anxious and a little more robust."
'Difficult and contentious' Engage, not isolate
"This is absolutely not about personality politics in any shape or form," Ms Blears said. Ms Blears called for the government to actively challenge the views and methods of those who shunned mainstream values, arguing that engagement was vital in rooting out extremism.
"This is a serious speech. It's actually talking about trying to tackle violent extremism and recognising that these are sensitive issues." While stressing the UK could not talk to terrorist groups like al-Qaida, she said there was a strong argument for engaging with Islamic groups even if their support for democratic government, freedom of speech and gender equality was questionable.
In the speech, at the London School of Economics, Ms Blears will argue that the government's engagement strategy must be part of its overall anti-extremism strategy. She will call for the government to actively challenge the views and methods of those who go beyond core values. "I know our political opponents will seek to make hay with this," she acknowledged, while stressing that talking to such groups did not mean one endorsed their views.
In order to do that, ministers will have to work in "difficult and contentious territory". "They will say that somehow engaging with groups with extremist views shows a lack of proper understanding of them, that we are being hoodwinked, used or exploited by extremists.
She will say: "There is a need for moral clarity, a dividing line rooted in our overriding sense of what is right and wrong." "But if we leave the field clear to extremists, without any engagement at all, we embolden them and undermine our own objectives.
Ms Blears' predecessor, Ruth Kelly, reduced official contacts with the Muslim Council of Britain in 2006 over its boycott of Holocaust Memorial Day - which has since been reversed. "And if we genuinely want to change minds, then we will never make progress merely by talking to people who already agree with us."
The government announced a range of measures last summer to try and check the influence of extremist groups in society.
These included support for the police and other bodies to identify and help people at risk of radicalisation and assistance for councils to launch programmes to "challenge and resist" extremism.