Straight From the Horse's Mouth!THE multi-racial society isn't working in Burnley - and that's official!Just 24 hours before the report into the summer riot in the town is published, Home Secretary, David Blunkett, has demanded that Burnley's immigrants change the way they behave and adopt British "norms of acceptibility". He also called for Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities "to develop a sense of belonging" to Britain, and warned of the introduction of an English test to ensure new immigrants arriving in the United Kingdom understood British language, culture and democracy. Mr Blunkett's announcement brought a furious response from Burnley's deputy mayor, Shahid Malik, who described the Home Secretary's proposals as "gross" and a viewpoint that would be welcomed by members and supporters of the British National Party in Burnley. Burnley's community leaders were also at loggerheads with Mr Blunkett. They do not see race relations problems caused by self-segregation, but by the poverty and deprivation suffered by immigrant communities in the town. The debate has put race and immigration back at the top of the political agenda and that's something that has caused dismay amongst MP's from all three main parties. In a cross-party statement they were highly critical of the Home Secretary, "In Britain we have a flourishing multi-cultural society that has been built by 35 years of hardwork. It is not only extremely insulting to our ethnic communities, but to suddenly announce such drastic changes sends out a signal that multli-racialism isn't working." The British National Party's Viewpoint!
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