The Dis-united Kingdom
I recently watched an interesting discussion on the Aljazeera (A news station I rarely watch due to its affinity with anti Iranian Royal families around the Persian Gulf) having come across it whilst zapping through Olympic reports on the TV, I was immediately hooked since Galloway was a participant . The subject of the discussion, was also an issue usually used and abused by the British intelligence community in other multi-cultural and multi-religious communities or countries as a tool of politics. (India, Northern Irland, Iraq are some examples). Nevertheless, here is the discussion:
“Bradford is at the heart of the UK and it was once the wealthiest city in Britain, riding the wave of the industrial revolution, its mills churning out textiles that dressed the world. But Britain is no longer the great empire that it once was, and today, the city of Bradford is not defined by industrial or political power but by poverty, inequality and social decline.
Another thing that has changed is the make-up of the residents themselves. White Christian Anglo-Saxons used to be the only racial and religious denomination in Bradford. But then the children of the empire started migrating to the UK in search of better lives - and stayed. British society became multi-racial and multi-cultural. Britain embraced multiculturalism, mosques jostled with church spires on some city skylines and Chicken Tikka Masala became the nation's favourite dish.
The problems started when the once colourful minority became, in places like Bradford, the majority. Native Britons felt left behind, especially as times got tougher. There were race riots in Bradford in 2001. The so-called white working class is angry and alienated and the divide between communities seems to be growing.
Add the threat of home-grown terrorism and religious extremism and it becomes a volatile cocktail.”
“Bradford is at the heart of the UK and it was once the wealthiest city in Britain, riding the wave of the industrial revolution, its mills churning out textiles that dressed the world. But Britain is no longer the great empire that it once was, and today, the city of Bradford is not defined by industrial or political power but by poverty, inequality and social decline.
Another thing that has changed is the make-up of the residents themselves. White Christian Anglo-Saxons used to be the only racial and religious denomination in Bradford. But then the children of the empire started migrating to the UK in search of better lives - and stayed. British society became multi-racial and multi-cultural. Britain embraced multiculturalism, mosques jostled with church spires on some city skylines and Chicken Tikka Masala became the nation's favourite dish.
The problems started when the once colourful minority became, in places like Bradford, the majority. Native Britons felt left behind, especially as times got tougher. There were race riots in Bradford in 2001. The so-called white working class is angry and alienated and the divide between communities seems to be growing.
Add the threat of home-grown terrorism and religious extremism and it becomes a volatile cocktail.”
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