* In 2004, Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality, called for the term "multiculturalism" to be scrapped, saying it encouraged separateness. In Sept. 2005 he went further, warning that Britain was "sleepwalking our way to segregation." Communities were becoming increasingly divided on the basis of race and religion, he said, with some areas on their way to becoming "fully-fledged ghettoes." **NO, shit!? http://www.upi.com/InternationalIntelligence/view.php?StoryID=20060824-015829-7413r LONDON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- News of an alleged plot to blow up airliners by British citizens of Pakistani origin has reignited the debate over multiculturalism, with many arguing the British model for incorporating immigrants into society has led to separation and the growth of extremism. The British approach to immigration has long been based on the principle that integration should not mean assimilation but a mutual tolerance of cultural diversity. Forty years ago, then Labor Home Secretary Roy Jenkins proffered the definition on which government policy has been based ever since. Integration was not a "flattening process of assimilation," he declared, "but equal opportunity accompanied by cultural diversity in an atmosphere of mutual tolerance." But one year on from the July 7 bombings, when four young British-born men of Pakistani origin carried out suicide attacks on London's transport network, debate has turned to whether tolerance of diversity has been pursued at the expense of social unity. Ruth Kelly, head of the government's newly-created Department for Communities and Local Government, Thursday launched the Commission on Integration and Cohesion in a bid to come up with answers to the difficult questions the country is now facing. Urging a "new and honest" debate on diversity, she said Britain had moved away from an era of "uniform consensus" about multiculturalism, and was starting to ask whether it in fact encouraged community separation. "Multiculturalism, different communities in Britain, the fact that Britain is open to people of all faiths and none, has been a huge strength of this country," she said. "But what we have to got to do is recognize that while there have been huge benefits, there are also tensions created." The commission would look at how such tensions arose and formulate practical ways of tackling them in local communities, she added. The debate is, in fact, nothing new. In 2004, Trevor Phillips, head of the Commission for Racial Equality, called for the term "multiculturalism" to be scrapped, saying it encouraged separateness. In Sept. 2005 he went further, warning that Britain was "sleepwalking our way to segregation." Communities were becoming increasingly divided on the basis of race and religion, he said, with some areas on their way to becoming "fully-fledged ghettoes." At the time, his claim was dismissed by many as being overly alarmist. But in the wake of the July bombings, all eyes turned to Beeston, the northern town from which three of the perpetrators originated, and began to wonder anew about Phillips' forecast. Beeston is a deprived neighborhood in the suburb of Leeds with a large and close-knit Muslim community, mostly of Kashmiri, Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin. It has a level of unemployment of about eight percent, twice the level in Leeds overall, while 42 percent of residents are classed as "economically inactive." In July, Times of London reporter Ali Hussein, himself a British-born Muslim of Pakistani origin, wrote after spending six weeks undercover in Beeston that it could "almost be an Asian city." He warned that the Muslims of Beeston and other such areas across the country were "retreating, not engaging," adding: "Unless the cycle of Muslim suspicion and separation can be broken, the dangers will remain." Riots across France in fall 2005 and spring 2006 compounded such concerns. Watching as the deprived and largely minority-populated estates of Paris and other cities erupted in violence, many commentators wondered whether Britain was next. The country has already seen its own race riots, albeit on a smaller scale. Following a series of riots in northern towns in 2001, experts warned the government that some communities were leading "parallel lives" with little or no contact with each other. In order to combat this phenomenon, the government wants to look at practical ways in which local authorities and communities can encourage integration, such as increasing the availability of English teaching, or hosting "citizen's days" to develop a sense of belonging and shared values in multicultural towns and cities. But some argue that ministers are ignoring vital, but less politically palatable, aspects of the debate. Of particular concern to many is the growing number of faith schools, which critics say lead to de facto segregation and cultural alienation. Under the banner of parental choice, the government has firmly committed itself to the expansion of faith schools, of which there are already 7,000 nationwide. The move is opposed by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, which earlier this year urged ministers to halt funding faith schools on the basis that they encouraged intolerance. The majority of the public appear to agree. An ICM/Guardian poll conducted in Aug. 2005 indicated that two-thirds of the public opposed an increase in faith schools due to fears over their impact on social cohesion. But Kelly rejected such concerns, insisting that faith schools were a parental right. Likewise she dismissed suggestions that the impact of foreign policy on some communities should be included in the debate. She acknowledged there were "elements of the Muslim community that profoundly disagree with British foreign policy." However, she said, foreign policy was not a "root cause" of extremism and could not be tailored for any one section of the community. The public, however, is far from convinced. An ICM/Guardian poll published earlier this week found that 72 percent believed that the government's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan had made the country more of a target for terrorists, while just one percent thought they had made the country safer. Opposition politicians and Muslim groups said that while they welcomed the integration initiative, foreign policy was a factor that could not simply be ignored. "To be truly effective, any attempt to reach out to disaffected members of our Muslim communities must also incorporate an honest debate about this government's foreign policy and some of its counter-terrorism measures," said Nick Clegg, home affairs spokesman for the Liberal Democrats. Kelly is right in her assertion that it is time to have a frank debate based on "facts, not myths." But the government must heed its own advice and face up to the fact that it can no longer turn a blind eye to issues of such deep concern to its own citizens, however politically challenging they may be.