Prime Minister admits lack of understanding.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair recently said he did not know what people meant when they referred to 'multiculturalism'.

What does that mean for the UK and London in particular which is supposed to be the multicultural capital of the world?.

The definition of multiculturism in Oxford English Dictionary is: the policy or process whereby the distinctive identities of the cultural groups within such a society are maintained or supported.

Last year Trevor Phillips of the Commission For Racial Equality (CRE), said the term was no longer useful as it suggested 'separateness' and called for all citizens to 'assert a core of Britishness.'

Could it be that Britain is no longer tolerant of other cultures? A recent BBC poll of 1000 people found that 62% thought multiculturalism made Britain 'a better place to live'. In the same poll almost the same percentage thought people 'should adopt the values and traditions of British culture.'

Rhian Beynon of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants believes multiculturalism has fallen victim to a negative press. 'I think 'multiculturalism' is like 'asylum seeker', it's become tainted because of the way some individuals have used it and I think there is a school of thought that lumps multiculturalism in with political correctness and would jeer at it.'

But Rob Berkeley of the race think tank the Runnymede Trust says whatever the debate about the meaning of the word, the policy remains sound. 'The key things are that we do pursue a shared national identity and some shared common values based on our shared humanity. And we need also to ensure people are treated fairly and their identities are not denigrated or subsumed into some sort of non-identity because that gets rid of all the benefits of diversity.'

Tony Blair may be suffering from memory loss because Intermix came across a letter from the Prime Minister to The Ethnic Multicultural Media Awards, (EMMA) in 1998 in which he said 'The contribution of ethnic multicultural professionals has brought cultural creativity to Britain's media industry. An increasing awareness of cultural diversity has permeated not only the mass media but also the business world in the fields of marketing, advertising, public relations and graphic design.'

Intermix member earthling has his own ideas on multicultural Britain
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Source: BBC News