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| David Cameron joins calls for promoting 'British values' in schools | David Cameron joins calls for promoting 'British values' in schools |
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| A failure to promote "British values" in a muscular way is allowing extremism to grow in the UK, David Cameron has said. | |
| The prime minister revealed plans to teach all school pupils about the Magna Carta in response to allegations of extremism at schools in Birmingham. Last week he backed education secretary Michael Gove's plans to put British values at the heart of the national curriculum. | |
| In a Mail on Sunday article he said that values including freedom, tolerance of others, accepting personal and social responsibility, and respecting and upholding the rule of law were not optional. | |
| "We need to be far more muscular in promoting British values and the institutions that uphold them," Cameron wrote. | "We need to be far more muscular in promoting British values and the institutions that uphold them," Cameron wrote. |
| Rejecting the moral relativism of some of his critics, he said: "A genuinely liberal country believes in certain values, actively promotes them and says to its citizens: this is what defines us as a society." | Rejecting the moral relativism of some of his critics, he said: "A genuinely liberal country believes in certain values, actively promotes them and says to its citizens: this is what defines us as a society." |
| He added that children from all backgrounds should be taught about the Magna Carta, saying the document established the rule of law and paved the way for parliamentary democracy. He also repeated that his favourite book remained Our Island Story, a one-volume popular account of British history written by HE Marshall. | |
| Cameron revealed last night that he would use events over the next year to mark the 800th anniversary of King John's signing of the Magna Carta as the centrepiece of a fightback against extremism. Describing the document as "the foundation of all our laws and liberties", he said: "I want to use this anniversary as an opportunity for every child to learn about the Magna Carta, for towns to commemorate it, for events to celebrate it." | Cameron revealed last night that he would use events over the next year to mark the 800th anniversary of King John's signing of the Magna Carta as the centrepiece of a fightback against extremism. Describing the document as "the foundation of all our laws and liberties", he said: "I want to use this anniversary as an opportunity for every child to learn about the Magna Carta, for towns to commemorate it, for events to celebrate it." |
| Cameron will host a reception at Downing Street on Monday to launch a year of events to commemorate the charter's signing on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede. | |
| In September 2012, during an appearance on the Letterman programme, Cameron was pressed on his knowledge of Magna Carta and struggled. | |
| He correctly said the Magna Carta was signed on 1215 on an island in the Thames, but asked to give the literal translation of the name, he replied: "Again you are testing me." Letteman replied: "Oh, it would be good if you knew this." Cameron replied: "Yeah, well it would be." | He correctly said the Magna Carta was signed on 1215 on an island in the Thames, but asked to give the literal translation of the name, he replied: "Again you are testing me." Letteman replied: "Oh, it would be good if you knew this." Cameron replied: "Yeah, well it would be." |
| The prime minister was saved by a commercial break on the programme and when the show restarted Letterman told him Magna Carta literally meant "great charter". | The prime minister was saved by a commercial break on the programme and when the show restarted Letterman told him Magna Carta literally meant "great charter". |
| The commemorations of the Magna Carta will mirror those marking the centenary of the first world war, with school lessons, television programmes and public events combining to raise awareness. | |
| In his article for the Mail on Sunday, Cameron said: "It's a great document in our history – what my favourite book, Our Island Story, describes as the 'foundation of all our laws and liberties'. In sealing it, King John had to accept his subjects were citizens – for the first time giving them rights, protections and security. | In his article for the Mail on Sunday, Cameron said: "It's a great document in our history – what my favourite book, Our Island Story, describes as the 'foundation of all our laws and liberties'. In sealing it, King John had to accept his subjects were citizens – for the first time giving them rights, protections and security. |
| "The remaining copies of that charter may have faded, but its principles shine as brightly as ever, and they paved the way for the democracy, the equality, the respect and the laws that make Britain Britain." | "The remaining copies of that charter may have faded, but its principles shine as brightly as ever, and they paved the way for the democracy, the equality, the respect and the laws that make Britain Britain." |