Writing in the Sunday Telegraph today, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said that the “policies of successive governments and local authorities” and the promotion of multiculturalism “at the expense of national and community integrity” had led to social segregation, “parallel lives” and the emergence of extremism.
“The Government is right to seek to unravel this mess - but it must be done with the widest community and national partnerships,” he wrote.
“If the effects of years of misguided multicultural policies are to be rolled back, the Government will have to work with social housing trusts (for instance), including church ones, to promote integrated communities.
“It will have to encourage schools to reflect the diversity of the community, instead of being religious or ethnic enclaves.
“Britain is not and never has been a wholly secular democracy. Its national life and institutions are based on Christian principles.”
The Bishop was responding to the release last week of a report by the Von Hugel Institute which concluded that the Government underestimates the contribution of the Church of England to civic society.
The “Moral but no compass” report said there was within government a “significant lack of understanding of, or interest in, the Church of England’s current or potential contribution in the public sphere”.
At a time when many Christians are concerned that the Government favours Muslims, the report similarly concluded that the Government was focusing on the “minority religions”.
Bishop Nazir-Ali said that such a policy would fail to address the problem of extremism.
