IN today's multiracial, politically correct Britain, public figures have to choose their words with care: the slightest hint of racial prejudice will attract more flak than would running naked across the hallowed cricket field at Lord's while a test match is in progress.

And as the elections draw closer, both Labour and the Conservatives are positioning themselves to attract the immigrant vote without alienating working class white voters who are concerned about the flood of foreigners (largely from Eastern Europe and North Africa) claiming political asylum and ending up begging aggressively at tube stations and traffic signals all over London. Over the last year alone, there were almost one hundred thousand applications for asylum, and nobody has been refused entry. But when a local branch of the Conservative Party put an ad in the papers promising to tackle the issue more effectively, William Hague and his cohorts were accused of racism.

Robin Cook, the Labour government's foreign minister, recently gave a speech in which he declared that 'chicken tikka masala' was now the national dish of multiracial Britain. While this caused much mirth among columnists across the land, there is some truth in what cook said: this dish does not exist in India or Pakistan. According to culinary lore, a customer in an Indian restaurant in London ordered a chicken tikka, but found it too dry for his taste, and sent it back, asking for it to be served with a bit of gravy. The chef mixed whatever ingredients were at hand, including tomato sauce and cream, and hey, presto!, the 'chicken tikka masala' was born. Starting from these humble beginnings in the seventies, it has swept into restaurants and upmarket food stores (including Harrods) all over Britain.

Indeed, food from the subcontinent now forms the most popular cuisine in Britain, with around a third of the billions being spent on eating out, going to curry houses, balti shops and tandoori restaurants. Considering that desi food usually costs a lot less than its European or Far Eastern counterpart, a lot of people are regularly tucking into biryani and chicken curry. All manner of spices and pre-prepared Indian meals are on offer at supermarkets in small and large cities. A couple of years ago, I was amazed at being able to buy high quality saffron in a small Welsh town. But as Britain becomes more and more genuinely multiracial, the dark side of ethnic differences is never far from the surface. The recent race riot in Bradford proves that far too often, racial harmony is only skin deep. Usually, hostility flares into violence after some young louts have had too much to drink at the local pub and then want to prove their manhood by beating up anybody who looks different. Until recently, it was the non-whites who were at the receiving end, but now Asian youths are hitting back, and have even declared their neighbourhoods 'no-go' areas for whites.

In some areas, complaints by whites are a third of all allegations of racial abuse and violence filed with the police. A 76-year old war veteran was badly beaten recently by Muslim youths, probably of Pakistani descent, when he was walking through their area. Such incidents have produced a predictable furore, with the police promising to take tough action. Some of these young Asian toughs have been quoted as saying their motive is revenge against the treatment their parents suffered a generation ago.

Clearly, these are not the kind of inter-racial relations most educated Britons would like to see in Cool Britannia. But the fact remains that tough suburbs and inner city ghettos are not the ideal breeding ground for racial harmony. Add unemployment, poor education and frustration over being cut off from their cultural roots, and you get a lot of angry young men more than willing to turn to violence over real or perceived insults. Among working class whites, there is a feeling of foreigners 'getting too big for their boots', and a fear of outsiders changing their culture. These attitudes and prejudices are openly on display in places like Bradford and Manchester with their heavy concentrations of immigrants.

However, in middle class Britain, people go out of their way to prove their liberal credentials. So in a sense, a two-track population is currently trying to come to terms with a nation that now has a significant non-white element. Indeed, according to projections, London will have a majority of non-whites by the year 2010, and less than half of Britain will be white by 2025. Understandably, this has alarmed many people, but to their credit, Brits are not up in arms demanding the end of all immigration.

Perhaps a sign of the times is the recent news item (with photographs) of Asian Muslim women in the Metropolitan police who are now permitted to wear the hijab on duty. Sikhs were already allowed to wear their distinguishing turbans. Unlike the French (and even the Turks), the British establishment is far more flexible in allowing and encouraging cultural diversity. All manner of different ethnic festivals are celebrated, and all religions have the right to establish and propagate themselves. Such a degree of religious tolerance would be unthinkable in India or Pakistan where Christians and other minorities are often persecuted.

But in encouraging different communities to emphasize their separateness, successive British governments have missed the opportunity of integrating them and bringing them into the mainstream. The Americans, by way of contrast, insist on immigrants saluting the flag and singing the national anthem before they are given US nationality. There is thus a correspondingly greater cultural homogeneity in the United States than there is in Britain where Punjabi parents often demand that their children be taught the luddi instead of the Scottish reel at publicly funded schools. Political correctness dictates that no single white Christian culture be pushed at the cost of the multi-hued multi-ethnic culture that has put down roots in Britain.

These are complex and difficult issues, but in many ways, Britain has shown far greater tolerance than any other white, ex-colonial power. Our own track record in treating minority groups is abysmal. Forget immigrants: Pakistani religious communities outside the mainstream are often viciously persecuted. This is something we should keep in mind the next time we accuse anybody and specially the British of racial discrimination.