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5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 2. It is claimed that community relations are deteriorating. Far from it. Multiculturalism merely asserts that the right of a person to live their life as they wish includes the cultural dimension. If they wish to live in a way that seems to be the most classical of English styles – tea at 4 p.m., eating fish and chips or going to an English pub – they should be able to do so. Likewise if they want to live a more Jamaican lifestyle or to organise their life more around Buddhism or Judaism. Currently, it is claimed that community relations in Britain are deteriorating and that there is an increasing polarisation in society threatening our safety – therefore the classic values of liberalism and multiculturalism should be abandoned. It is striking that those who participate in this campaign are forced to falsify their evidence, invariably a sign that an argument is not merely wrong but intellectually disreputable. For example, the claim that we are “sleepwalking into segregation”. Or the approach reflected in the latest CRE’s conference 1 , including sessions such as “Rivers of Blood: Did Enoch Powell 2 get it right?” A recent study by Dr Ludi Simpson from the University of Manchester found that British society is becoming more mixed, not more segregated, with the 1 CRE: Commission for Racial Equality, now: Equality and Human Rights Commission 2 Enoch Powell (1912–1998): controversial British politician. In his “Rivers of Blood” speech (20 April 1968) he warned that unchecked immigration from the Commonwealth could lead to violence in British cities, and that as a result rivers of blood would flow. number of mixed neighbourhoods increasing from 864 to 1,070 in the decade to 2001. Far from ethnic groups becoming more separate, there is more mixing today than there has ever been. According to Dr Simpson, inter-ethnic couples and children of mixed ethnic parentage have risen 20 per cent in ten years, and there are four times more children than adults of mixed ethnicity. The 2001 census shows that it is non-white residents, such as Indians, Caribbeans, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, who are on balance leaving inner cities rather than moving into or staying in them. In other words, what is taking place is that ethnic groups mix more and more – the opposite of segregation. And in London, racist attacks have declined by almost 40 per cent in six years. This multicultural approach has helped make London astonishingly economically successful – it is by far the most international city in the world, beating even New York as the world’s most important international financial centre. Even more importantly, multicultur- alism has made London a diverse city with the greatest range of individual choice on earth. (Ken Livingstone, The Independent ; adapted) c) In groups of four, compare the arguments and the tone of the two texts. Use the phrases from the word bank in your discussion. Writing: Coming and going? After having read the articles above, you decide to write an email to the editor in response to one of them, expressing your own views. In your e-mail to the editor you should: • introduce the problem to the reader • make clear what your position is • make a suggestion to (further) improve the situation Write around 250 words . 2 Word bank Talking about tone formal  informal • biased/critical  objective • emotional/passionate  indifferent • matter-of fact/sincere  ironic Expressing opinions to strongly disagree with • to strongly oppose/believe (in) sth. • to be deeply concerned/upset/shocked about sth. • to be utterly convinced that • to wholeheartedly agree with/support sth. • to roundly condemn sth. • to thoroughly approve of sth. W 53 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eige tum des Verlags öbv