This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/7909258.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 1 | Version 2 |
---|---|
British values 'must be defended' | |
(about 8 hours later) | |
People must be more willing to challenge ideas that conflict with core British values, the communities secretary has said. | |
Hazel Blears said there was too much "squeamishness" about condemning unacceptable practices, like forced marriages, for fear of causing offence. | |
Debate about the role of religion was "being sapped by a creeping over-sensitivity", she argued in a speech. | |
She also said it could be possible to engage with extremist groups. | |
However Ms Blears said negotiation could only be held with groups that did not advocate violence. | |
'Dividing line' | |
"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. | |
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". | |
There were clear boundaries about what was acceptable in British society, the communities secretary said. | |
We would do well to be a little less anxious and a little more robust Hazel Blears | |
But people's fear of causing offence and consequent unwillingness to defend what was clearly reasonable and sensible had gone too far, she suggested. | |
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. | |
"The pendulum has swung too far," she argued. | |
"The quality of debate about religion in contemporary life - and by religion, I mean all faiths - is being sapped by a creeping over-sensitivity. | |
"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 added: "We would do well to be a little less anxious and a little more robust." | |
Engage, not isolate | |
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. | |
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. | |
"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. | |
"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. | |
"But if we leave the field clear to extremists, without any engagement at all, we embolden them and undermine our own objectives. | |
"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. |