Latest news with #white-British
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Politicians have their heads in the sand about immigration's irreversible damages
A new report published by the Centre for Heterodox Social Science has underscored the reality of significant demographic change in modern Britain. Authored by Matthew Goodwin, the research projects that the white-British ethnic majority will become a minority within the next four decades and could fall as low as a third of the UK's population by the end of the century. By 2100, the analysis predicts that three in five people will be non-white. Currently standing in the region of seven per cent, the Muslim proportion of the UK's population could increase to eleven percent by 2050 and as high as one-fifth of it by the 22nd century. The findings confirm that the UK is undergoing major ethnic and religious transformation. There is no doubt that large-scale inward migration, which in recent times reached unprecedented levels under the last Conservative government's post-Brexit liberalisation of immigration rules, is driving much of this population change. Along with the size of the inflows, the pattern of migration to the UK has changed in the post-Brexit context. Prominent countries of origin associated with the so-called 'Boriswave' include India, Pakistan, and Nigeria. This brings risks from a social-cohesion perspective. India and Pakistan recently locked horns in a military escalation following the Pahalgam terror attack, which the former blamed the latter over. While India has witnessed the fiery rise of Hindu fundamentalism under prime minister Narendra Modi, Pakistan is verging on being a failed state riddled with Islamist extremism. Nigeria is also no stranger to ethnic and religious conflict. But it is the political and cultural dynamics within the UK's 'homegrown' Muslim population which pose the most serious challenges in terms of integration and identity. Research published by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) found that seven in ten British Muslims identified with their religious identity first and foremost – with around a quarter identifying most strongly with their British/English national identity. But younger, largely UK-born British Muslims are more likely to identify as 'Muslim first' than their predominantly foreign-born elders – peaking at 85 per cent for 18-to-24-year-olds. What we are witnessing in the British Muslim population is the 'integration paradox' – as socially-conservative minorities become more socially integrated over generations, they are more exposed to cultural trends and mainstream political developments which may not be to their liking. Whether it is the rapid secularisation of the mainstream or the perceived pro-Israelism of the British political establishment, the UK's relatively youthful and increasingly confident Muslim population is becoming more faith-centric in how they view their existence in modern Britain. Of course, all of this leads us to what is taking place in the white-British ethnic group, which is on a consistently downward trajectory as a proportion of the UK's population. While one cannot underestimate the role of large-scale immigration in demographic change, neither can we overlook that major cultural changes in the mainstream are contributing towards it. The reality is that certain ethnic and religious groups value marriage and parenthood more than others – to the point that they tend to be more willing to take a hit to their personal freedom and financial comfort for these goals. Marriage and parenthood are ultimately civic acts of self-sacrifice – one could be forgiven for believing that much of the white-British mainstream is simply not culturally or religiously inclined to take this on. While England's rich traditions of personal freedom and individual liberty are to be admired, the 1960s social revolution and the rise of materialism put these values on steroids. Coupled with the considerable volume of inward migration of highly-religious kinship networks over decades, significant population change was, and is, inevitable. Britain's demographic future is a declining and de-Christianising white-British population, an ever-growing Muslim population, and becoming a majority-nonwhite society. This is unlikely to be a seamless transition. It could give rise to a resurgent racial consciousness in the white-British ethnic group; two-tier governance and the unholy trinity of 'diversity, equality, and inclusion' will not help matters. Meanwhile, British Muslim social and political disaffection – especially among its younger and more educated population – means the urge for Muslims to mobilise in line with 'group interests' will only grow. One thing for certain: significant population changes in modern Britain are testing the UK's traditional reputation of being a successful multi-ethnic, religiously-diverse democracy to the limit. And many of our mainstream politicians have buried their heads in the sand over this. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Our public bodies are undermining the sacred British values of tolerance and equality
Cultivating solidarity in a multi-ethnic democracy is not easy. In fact, as much of history can attest, it is a very hard thing to achieve. And it becomes especially difficult when state-funded institutions demonise the largest ethnic group in the country. This is exactly what the London Museum has done: the publicly funded body has urged its staff to address the problem of 'whiteness' as part of a so-called diversity initiative. This is because 'whiteness' is supposedly 'embedded' in the workplaces up and down the country and it needs to be rooted out. In the Orwellian world in which so many institutions now operate, where words mean the opposite of how we commonly understand them, challenging 'whiteness' is an example of 'inclusion'. In fact it is about the most divisive thing that can be done: it makes the task of fostering a more cohesive society doomed to fail. Contrary to what the woke activists claim, white British people are amongst the most tolerant indigenous populations on Earth, not the bastions of racism they are made out to be. Yet time after time, our public institutions peddle a fundamentally warped interpretation of British history and heritage in which to be white is to be tainted with all kinds of sins, from colonialism to white supremacy. Britain had made magnificent strides in terms of race relations before the emergence of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. But the poison of modern identity politics risks undermining all of this. Much of the 'anti-racist' activity in modern Britain is inspired by the 'radical progressivism' that has taken root across the pond in the United States. We are told that the prejudices and biases of the white-British population are to be unlearned and corrected. But ethnic minorities, by contrast, are deserving of nothing less than infinite compassion and understanding. This is patronising towards black and Asian people; it also makes a mockery of the principles of personal responsibility and fairness. The woke capture of public bodies risks fuelling a white backlash against the establishment. Equality under the law and colour-blindness are being denigrated by those who claim to advocate for 'anti-racism'. Take, for example, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales – which has recommended that a pre-sentencing report (PSR) should normally be considered necessary if an offender belongs to certain groups. These include being 'from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community'. This carries a variety of risks – including the possibility that religious beliefs and cultural norms will be used as a defence by ethnic-minority offenders in the hope of securing more lenient sentences. Our public institutions should foster belonging. While the likes of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRU) have rowed back on their plans to 'improve' diversity and inclusion for its regulated firms, the guidance on 'whiteness' provided by the London Museum to its employees shows that 'wokeness', in the shape of racial identity politics, is anything but dead. And our money is paying for this: just let that sink in. The effort of the last half-century at building a successful multicultural and multiethnic nation is being vigorously undermined. This should gravely concern all of us.
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Our public bodies are institutionally racist: against white people
Cultivating solidarity in a multi-ethnic democracy is not easy. In fact, as much of history can attest, it is a very hard thing to achieve. And it becomes especially difficult when state-funded institutions demonise the largest ethnic group in the country. This is exactly what the London Museum has done: the publicly funded body has urged its staff to address the problem of 'whiteness' as part of a so-called diversity initiative. This is because 'whiteness' is supposedly 'embedded' in the workplaces up and down the country and it needs to be rooted out. In the Orwellian world in which so many institutions now operate, where words mean the opposite of how we commonly understand them, challenging 'whiteness' is an example of 'inclusion'. In fact it is about the most divisive thing that can be done: it makes the task of fostering a more cohesive society doomed to fail. Contrary to what the woke activists claim, white British people are amongst the most tolerant indigenous populations on Earth, not the bastions of racism they are made out to be. Yet time after time, our public institutions peddle a fundamentally warped interpretation of British history and heritage in which to be white is to be tainted with all kinds of sins, from colonialism to white supremacy. Britain had made magnificent strides in terms of race relations before the emergence of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. But the poison of modern identity politics risks undermining all of this. Much of the 'anti-racist' activity in modern Britain is inspired by the 'radical progressivism' that has taken root across the pond in the United States. We are told that the prejudices and biases of the white-British population are to be unlearned and corrected. But ethnic minorities, by contrast, are deserving of nothing less than infinite compassion and understanding. This is patronising towards black and Asian people; it also makes a mockery of the principles of personal responsibility and fairness. The woke capture of public bodies risks fuelling a white backlash against the establishment. Equality under the law and colour-blindness are being denigrated by those who claim to advocate for 'anti-racism'. Take, for example, the Sentencing Council for England and Wales – which has recommended that a pre-sentencing report (PSR) should normally be considered necessary if an offender belongs to certain groups. These include being 'from an ethnic minority, cultural minority, and/or faith minority community'. This carries a variety of risks – including the possibility that religious beliefs and cultural norms will be used as a defence by ethnic-minority offenders in the hope of securing more lenient sentences. Our public institutions should foster belonging. While the likes of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRU) have rowed back on their plans to 'improve' diversity and inclusion for its regulated firms, the guidance on 'whiteness' provided by the London Museum to its employees shows that 'wokeness', in the shape of racial identity politics, is anything but dead. And our money is paying for this: just let that sink in. The effort of the last half-century at building a successful multicultural and multiethnic nation is being vigorously undermined. This should gravely concern all of us. Dr Rakib Ehsan is the author of Beyond Grievance. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
19-03-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Labour's Race Equality Act will hurt those it is meant to help
If a camel is a horse designed by committee, Labour's proposed Race Equality Act is a monster created by a mix of campaigners, vested interests and civil servants. Many hoped it would never see the light of day, but with the Government revealing plans to force private firms to publish their ethnicity 'pay gaps', we are lamentably edging nearer. Labour is burnishing its credentials as an anti-business party likely to do more harm than good when it comes to social cohesion in modern Britain. While trade unions have welcomed the prospect of companies being legally required to divulge pay-related disparities for their workforces on the grounds of ethnicity and disability, the timing of enforcing such requirements on the private sector could hardly be worse. As well as raising taxes on businesses, the Government risks slapping additional red tape onto firms when the UK economy is in delicate shape, shrinking unexpectedly by 0.1 per cent in January. This will only compound the damage wrought by Angela Rayner's radical plans to reform employment rights, which economists expect will impose further costs on businesses that would be expected to allow union equality representatives to take time out during work hours to 'carry out activities for the purpose of promoting the value of equality'. The unholy trinity of 'diversity, equality, and inclusion' – DEI – does not only worry the free-market fundamentalists who become squeamish over the lightest of regulations. Despite traditionally identifying with the Left and believing that more work can be done to foster more inclusive workplaces in an era of growing ethnic and religious diversification, I firmly believe that Labour's planned DEI revolution poses significant problems from not only a business-development perspective, but also one which cares about social cohesion. While the equalities minister, Seema Malhotra, has said that legal requirements for firms to publish ethnicity gaps will 'improve the lives of working people and strengthen our country', I suspect that it will achieve the very opposite. Since 2018, British firms have been the subject of mandatory gender pay gap reporting – which some have argued has contributed to perverse outcomes. These include a reticence to employ women in lower-paid roles or conversely, the unjust penalisation of men applying for higher-paid positions. Malhotra has defended the introduction of ethnicity (and disability) pay gap reporting on the grounds that it will 'remove barriers to opportunity for ethnic minority and disabled staff'. But the issue is that such pay reporting requirements may disincentivise the recruitment of ethnic-minority and disabled applicants by private firms. Take, for example, an exclusively white-British, middle-to-upper class private company in a semi-rural area that is looking to strengthen its cultural and technological expertise by drafting in young, aspirational, digitally-savvy, ethnic-minority talent from relatively urban, working-class areas. As an ethnically homogeneous firm, there will be no ethnicity pay gaps to report – but the appointment of these younger workers would inevitably create significant pay disparities on the grounds of ethnicity (even though such forms of recruitment would constitute a modernisation of the firm and enable opportunities for intercultural knowledge exchange which cuts across race, class, generation, and geography). It is exactly the kind of recruitment that could provide handsome gains for society in terms of business growth and intergroup social trust – yet, mandatory ethnic pay gap reporting may perversely disencourage firms from taking such action for fear of being unfairly viewed in the public domain as a discriminatory institution. Contrary to creating opportunities for minorities and fostering more inclusive workplaces, Labour's DEI plans risk limiting chances for ethnic-minority progression and the fostering of healthy community relations. It is a classic example of an overbearing and dogmatic Government unduly interfering with civil society, which contributes more – economically, socially, and culturally – than the State over could. When it comes to navigating the choppy waters of diversity in modern Britain, the Labour Government is all at sea.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Labour's Race Equality Act will hurt those it is meant to help
If a camel is a horse designed by committee, Labour's proposed Race Equality Act is a monster created by a mix of campaigners, vested interests and civil servants. Many hoped it would never see the light of day, but with the Government revealing plans to force private firms to publish their ethnicity 'pay gaps', we are lamentably edging nearer. Labour is burnishing its credentials as an anti-business party likely to do more harm than good when it comes to social cohesion in modern Britain. While trade unions have welcomed the prospect of companies being legally required to divulge pay-related disparities for their workforces on the grounds of ethnicity and disability, the timing of enforcing such requirements on the private sector could hardly be worse. As well as raising taxes on businesses, the Government risks slapping additional red tape onto firms when the UK economy is in delicate shape, shrinking unexpectedly by 0.1 per cent in January. This will only compound the damage wrought by Angela Rayner's radical plans to reform employment rights, which economists expect will impose further costs on businesses that would be expected to allow union equality representatives to take time out during work hours to 'carry out activities for the purpose of promoting the value of equality'. The unholy trinity of 'diversity, equality, and inclusion' – DEI – does not only worry the free-market fundamentalists who become squeamish over the lightest of regulations. Despite traditionally identifying with the Left and believing that more work can be done to foster more inclusive workplaces in an era of growing ethnic and religious diversification, I firmly believe that Labour's planned DEI revolution poses significant problems from not only a business-development perspective, but also one which cares about social cohesion. While the equalities minister, Seema Malhotra, has said that legal requirements for firms to publish ethnicity gaps will 'improve the lives of working people and strengthen our country', I suspect that it will achieve the very opposite. Since 2018, British firms have been the subject of mandatory gender pay gap reporting – which some have argued has contributed to perverse outcomes. These include a reticence to employ women in lower-paid roles or conversely, the unjust penalisation of men applying for higher-paid positions. Malhotra has defended the introduction of ethnicity (and disability) pay gap reporting on the grounds that it will 'remove barriers to opportunity for ethnic minority and disabled staff'. But the issue is that such pay reporting requirements may disincentivise the recruitment of ethnic-minority and disabled applicants by private firms. Take, for example, an exclusively white-British, middle-to-upper class private company in a semi-rural area that is looking to strengthen its cultural and technological expertise by drafting in young, aspirational, digitally-savvy, ethnic-minority talent from relatively urban, working-class areas. As an ethnically homogeneous firm, there will be no ethnicity pay gaps to report – but the appointment of these younger workers would inevitably create significant pay disparities on the grounds of ethnicity (even though such forms of recruitment would constitute a modernisation of the firm and enable opportunities for intercultural knowledge exchange which cuts across race, class, generation, and geography). It is exactly the kind of recruitment that could provide handsome gains for society in terms of business growth and intergroup social trust – yet, mandatory ethnic pay gap reporting may perversely disencourage firms from taking such action for fear of being unfairly viewed in the public domain as a discriminatory institution. Contrary to creating opportunities for minorities and fostering more inclusive workplaces, Labour's DEI plans risk limiting chances for ethnic-minority progression and the fostering of healthy community relations. It is a classic example of an overbearing and dogmatic Government unduly interfering with civil society, which contributes more – economically, socially, and culturally – than the State over could. When it comes to navigating the choppy waters of diversity in modern Britain, the Labour Government is all at sea. Dr Rakib Ehsan is the author of Beyond Grievance Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
