LONDON: In a controversial recommendation aimed at making immigrants to Britain more British, a government inquiry report wants all immigrants to vow “clear primary loyalty” to Britain. The report ordered in July following rioting in the northern town of Bradford follows strongly anti-government positions taken by Pakistani youth in Bradford through the summer riots.

That was followed by a survey that indicated that a vast majority of British youths of Pakistani origin would rather fight in Afghanistan against Britain than for it. The new report now proposes an oath of allegiance to Britain on the Canadian model. It has recommended that the oath should also include a clause that says the “use of the English language will become more rigorously pursued”.

The oath also would include a commitment to tackle racism, says Ted Cantle, chairperson of the Community Cohesion Review Team. The government is studying the Report, which was published in London on Dec 11. It will also be debated in parliament. A decision is expected next year on which of the 67 recommendations the report makes will be implemented, a spokesperson for the Home Office said. Home Office minister John Denham, who chaired the cross-departmental group which made the recommendations, said: “We have not made a commitment to a formal oath of allegiance, but we do want the debate to take place.”

The report says different cultures do exist in modern British society, but it is “essential to agree some common elements of nationhood.” The report makes clear acknowledgement what a segregated society Britain really is, despite official claims of multi-culturalism. “Separate educational arrangements, community and voluntary bodies, employment, places of worship, language, social and cultural networks means that many communities operate on the basis of a series of parallel lives,” the report says.

It acknowledges extreme polarization in Britain. “Many still look back to some supposedly halcyon days of a mono-cultural society, or alternatively look back to their country of origin for some form of identity,” it says. The report says the government has got it wrong in its attempts to bridge the divide.

Government programmes have only “institutionalized the problems,” the report says. “The plethora of initiatives and programmes, with their baffling array of outcomes, boundaries, timescale and other conditions, seemed to ensure divisiveness and a perception of unfairness in virtually every section of the communities we visited.” The report says “the development of cross-cultural contact, and the promotion of community cohesion, was not valued as an end in itself.”—Dawn/InterPress Service.