Conclusion

Sadly, there is a possibility that despite all this activity to change our behaviour and our attitudes towards those individuals and communities affected by racism very little has been achieved. Programmes that do not actually change the actions of the institutions that perpetrate discrimination are an expensive and time-consuming waste of resources that could be put to better use. They are bound to fail to effect integration because they address the problem the wrong way round.

Next Steps

During and since the Home Office convened seven Working Groups on ‘Tackling Extremism Together’ last autumn, there has been a call from many Muslims, to re-convene CBMI to support Muslim organisations and individuals in responding to the London bombings. In 2006 CBMI was launched in Parliament, with all party support.

CBMI has set up six Regional Commissions to listen to their local communities. We have also commissioned the University of Westminster to monitor implementation of the Recommendations of the Working Groups. We will complement Muslim actions, and seek to fill any gaps we discover.