An oath on British Values?

More government nonsense!! they shouldnt be let in in the first instance!

I'm not sure about the oath but I welcome the report from Louise Casey. We need to have a debate about integration from all sorts of points of view - colour, religion, nationality, class etc. I welcome immigrants but we have bent over backwards not to offend them rather than helping them integrate.

More hot air, more waste of time and money.

Well said, kittylester.

Schools are required to teach British values - it is a total farce. I wonder which Britons they are referring to. OK, ask an immigrant to agree to abide by British law - that is fair enough - but values are a more nebulous concept. And in any event there is no way of enforcing the agreement to abide by values.

It is just a fact that immigrants tend to mix with their own and to have a slightly different value system, just as do the Brits in the Dordogne. I think kitty's point about over-adapting to their needs rather than helping them actively with the process of immigration is a good one. But we cannot ask people to be someone they are not and they are bound to be steeped in the culture of their homeland and take time to adapt.

integration!

Some ethnic groups seem to integrate better than others. I liked what that report said about women and girls. We have tiptoed round some pretty abusive practises in an effort not to be seen as racist. In Britain we don't treat our women and girls as second class citizens and that is a 'British value' that I'm proud of.

Indeed Jane!

Interestingly there was a thread on Mumsnet about a parent not wanting their primary school child to be in school for a visit from an Imam, precisely on the issue of women's status, because they were not sure what might be said about it.

I'm surprised that Mumsy's blatantly racist post has slipped beneath the radar of other posters.

Let me say Mumsy that was not acceptable.

There was a thread on here recently about an Imam's visit to a primary school and the OP was saying her son and DIL were keeping their children off that day.

It developed into an interesting discussion.

We have tried almost too hard to accept other cultures ,to the detriment of our own in some ways. Think we need to take a long hard look at what is happening and don't let the rampant PC brigade take over

What are British values?

I'm sure we'd like to say tolerance, understanding, charity, fairness and lots of other nice things.

Sadly listening to some people and reading/watching the media it's more likely intolerance, misunderstanding, selfishness, unfairness and other unpleasant things.

I don't think Mumsy's post is racist though Anya. She is just expressing a view that she does not think "we" (the UK) should allow any more immigrants to come. Not racist, just an opinion.

British values must include sexual equality and the freedom to marry (or not) whoever you want.

I don't even know what 'British values' are anymore, I just know what mine are, which were instilled into me when I was a child in a different age and which have never left me. I'm not sure even my children share them wholeheartedly so why would I expect anyone else to. I do agree with those who say that we have given too much ground to political correctness, and I think there is now an expectation among some immigrant communities that no-one has the right to voice any contrary opinion about their culture, customs and ideologies even when they pose a risk to society. It may be too late now to shut that particular stable door, particularly in our large Northern cities. Too much ground has been lost.

I read that discussion Ana and although I did not post on the thread it started me thinking. Would I be happy? I'm still not sure. My DGC's school is a non-faith school but they do uphold Christian values and they do celebrate Christmas and it is not called the winter festival or any crap like that and other Christian holidays.

I'm sure there are some very important issues to deal with in the Casey report, but please please don't so much pressure and responsibility on the schools to lead the way. Its not right.

I think Louise Casey made the point that some communities bring a spouse in from whence they originated from and therefore never break through that first generation mould. Marrying outside an ethnic community often means that the 2nd generation can straddle two cultures, that's how it was for my father and his siblings, my grandfather came to this country, married my English grandmother and had to get to grips with all things English.

Is Mumsy an example of British values ?

Annie if I may be allowed to say so, that is a silly thing to say and not worthy of you.

You have said it Greyduster

I'm not sure what is going on here.

Why do the British think that their 'values' are in any way superior to the values of foreigners?

Is this aimed particularly at Muslims (who make up some 4.5% of the UK population; we're hardly being overwhelmed by them)? As far as I can see no-one is objecting to the practices/values of people of other religions.

Let's not forget that in the days of Empire the British blithely tried to impose their values in countries all over the world regardless of those of the native inhabitants. At least immigrants aren't trying to impose their values on us; just asking us to tolerate them where they do not conflict with the law of the land.

Oaths to uphold some nebulous 'British values' seem a bit silly. How would you know that someone has broken their oath and what would you do about it?

It is important not to stop people expressing their reservations and concerns about immigration and dealing with this properly - otherwise we finish up with Farage and his mob, because they have nowhere else to go. It is NOT racist to express concern about the numbers of immigrants - labeling people as racist rather than addressing the concerns results in the backlash that we have seen so recently.

Not listening to this results in people being pushed to further extremes of view. If the issue had been addressed with proper understanding of people's concerns then we would not be in the position of UKIP getting so much support.

I know you for a sensible woman Gilly so we will agree to differ on that one!

I was reading an article recently which talked about the difficulties some cultures had in fully integrating. One point it made was this; those of central European origins, as an example, being mainly white will integrate within one generation as, apart from language, they are physically indistinguishable from the average Brit and their children will learn to speak with local accents.

Those of Asian or Black origins will not have this option as their colour will single them out.

It is of course more complicated than that, if we take religion, culture, etc into consideration, but I am happy when I see an Asian or Black person speaking with a Scottish or Brummie accent (for example) and wearing clothes from the High Street. This seems to say that, for me at any rate, I am happy to welcome others into our country providing they make an effort to blend in. Sounds reasonable to me.

British values include knowing how to queue correctly, a value not shared by the Italians I'm sorry to say.