In a blunt warning to Muslim extremists, Prime Minister Tony Blair has said religious fanatics would have no place in Britain unless they conformed to British values, including tolerance and respect for the country.
Government grants would be restricted to those promoting integration and there was no room for religious law in the country, Blair said in his speech 'The Duty to Integrate:
Shared British Values' delivered to a select gathering at his 10, Downing Street official residence on Friday.
Integration was not about culture or lifestyle, Blair said, adding that, "It is about values. It is about integrating at the point of shared, common unifying British values."
Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and other faiths have a perfect right to their own identity and religion, to practice their faith and to conform to their culture, he said.
"This is what multicultural, multi-faith Britain is about. That is what is legitimately distinctive.
"But when it comes to our essential values -- belief in democracy, the rule of law, tolerance, equal treatment for all, respect for this country and its shared heritage -- then that is where we come together, it is what we hold in common, it is what gives us the right to call ourselves British," the prime minister said.
"At that point no distinctive culture or religion supercedes our duty to be part of an integrated United Kingdom," he said.
Admitting that extremism is not confined to Muslims, the prime minister said, "It is true there are extremists in other communities. But the reason we are having this debate is not generalised extremism. It is a new and virulent form of ideology associated with a minority of our Muslim community."
It is not a problem with Britons of Hindu, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese or Polish origin. Nor is it a problem with the majority of the Muslim community, Blair said.
"Most Muslims are proud to be British and are thoroughly decent law-abiding citizens. But it is a problem with a minority of that community, particularly originating from certain countries," he said.
The right to be in a multicultural society was always implicitly balanced by a duty to integrate, to be part of Britain, to be British and Asian, British and black, British and white, Blair said.
Those whites who supported the extremist British Nationalist Party's policy of separate races and those Muslims who shun integration into British society both contradict the fundamental values that define Britain today: tolerance, solidarity across the racial and religious divide, equality for all and between all.
Reiterating his commitment to continue to celebrate a multicultural Britain, Blair said "obedience to the rule of law, to democratic decision-making about who governs us, to freedom from violence and discrimination are not optional for British citizens.
"They are what being British is about. Being British carries rights. It also carries duties. And those duties take clear precedence over any cultural or religious practice," he said.
In an effort to ensure that the ethnic minorities integrate with the British society and absorb its values properly, he set out six elements in policy.
First, "We need to use the grants we give to community racial and religious groups to promote integration as well as help distinctive cultural identity."
In the past, Blair noted, money was too often freely awarded to groups that were tightly bonded around religious, racial or ethnic identities. "In the future, we will assess bids from groups of any ethnicity or any religious denomination, also against a test, where appropriate, of promoting community cohesion and integration."
Second, "We stand emphatically at all times for equality of respect and treatment for all citizens." Citing forced marriage as an example, Blair said "there can be no defence of forced marriage on cultural or any other grounds. We set up the Forced Marriages Unit in 2005 and they now deal with 250-300 cases a year mainly relating to people of South Asian background."
Referring to complaints he received from Muslim women that they are barred from entering certain mosques, he said "Those that exclude the voice of women need to look again at their practices."
Third, "We must demand allegiance to the rule of law. Nobody can legitimately ask to stand outside the law of the nation. Fourth, "There has been a lot of concern about a minority of visiting preachers. It would be preferable for British preachers to come out of the community rather than come in from abroad."
Fifth, the national curriculum needs to stress integration rather than separation. Referring to concerns expressed about some madarssas, the prime minister said, "There can be no excuse for madarssas not meeting their legal requirements and they will be enforced vigorously."
Sixth, "We should set the use of English as a condition of citizenship. In addition, for those who wish to take up residence permanently in the UK, we will include a requirement to pass an English test before such a permanent residency is granted."