The new millennium rushes on in a rapidly transforming world. Unexpected forces have been released in Britain and around the globe. They bring fresh challenges for new and old Britons, particularly those who feel an erosion of trust and ease. The geopolitical realities of this century and profound shifts within domestic populations demand fresh thinking and bespoke policies and politics. Reheated responses left over from the last century will no longer work. One key area that requires reassessment is multicultural policies – local and national – implemented by public bodies and private institutions to promote racial harmony and cultural entitlements.
In 1968, Roy Jenkins, the Labour Home Secretary, declared that expecting immigrants to wholly assimilate into a pre-determined ‘Britishness’ when they faced racism and hostility was neither fair nor achievable.
