Is diversity our strength?

On the failings of multiculturalism

In 2004, David Goodhart wrote an essay for Prospect called “Too Diverse?” He suggested that Britain might become too diverse “to sustain the mutual obligations behind a good society and the welfare state” because, as he put it, “sharing and solidarity can conflict with diversity”.

Last week, as events abroad once again cause a spike in ethnic tension on Britain’s streets, I re-examined what Goodhart called ‘the progressive dilemma’ and argued that Suella Braverman was right to point out that multiculturalism has failed — even if she is 20 years behind the curve.

You can read that in The Critic here:

A spike in anti-Jewish hate crimes in support of Hamas rocket strikes is not a sign of a functioning, healthy democracy, however, and the dilemma is growing increasingly hard to ignore. Braverman’s speech wasn’t “dog-whistling to the far right”. It was a recognition of a concrete political reality that progressives refuse to recognise and Capital-C Conservatives have endlessly sidestepped — that, as Britain has become more diverse, it is growing increasingly difficult to sustain the common values that underpin a good society.