Using taxpayers’ money to fund projects run by religious or ethnic community groups is turning Britain into a divided society, the author of the report on the Oldham riots has warned.
Prof Ted Cantle said that the idea of multiculturalism in Britain is now “well past its sell-by date” and is often doing more harm than good.
He accused the Government of fuelling separation in communities rather than bringing people together by allowing small groups to claim “special status” – and with it funding – amounting to a form of state-sponsored segregation.
Councils and police are also giving undue legitimacy to “self-appointed leaders” in some areas by inviting them to endless meetings and consulting them on their views and allowing them to become “gatekeepers to their communities”, he warned.
Meanwhile grants from government funding pots, councils and charities have allowed thousands of separate community groups to grow up representing their own interests and reinforcing separation, he said.
He accused David Cameron of failing to live up to a pledge to tackle “state multiculturalism”.