This was a great event, which was sponsored by three organisations – The Belong Network; The Together Coalition and; British Future.
There were many good speakers, as well as some great contributions from the floor and in the break-out sessions.
Lord Khan, the MHCLG Minister for Faith was very clear that the new government was determined to take a long term strategic approach to building cohesion.
Adam Kelwick, the imam of the UK’s oldest mosque in Liverpool perhaps stole the show with his willingness to extend a welcome to Far Right activists and to talk through their concerns, even acknowledging that ‘British working class people are not being listened to’. He also made the point that the ‘Far Right’ covers a wide range of people with many different motivations and views. Not all are motivated by hatred, they do have real grievances and concerns – and should be engaged with rather than dismissed or demonised.
The final panel included John Denham, former Minister of State in the Labour Government which adopted the 2001 Cantle Report and helped to establish the concept of community cohesion. John argued for a positive narrative of ‘the type of country we should want to be.’ Ted Cantle pointed to the fairly extensive cohesion infrastructure that had been created after his report and lamented that it was then allowed to wither away – as it has done following renewed each subsequent cohesion review. Dame Sara Khan, who was the third member of this panel, had produced another review in March 2024 to which no response was given by the former Conservative government and awaits Labour’s attention. Both Sara and Ted wanted to see the introduction of a tension monitoring framework in all local areas to anticipate tensions and to intervene before tensions turn into conflict.
The Summit was well attended. Delegates included people who have been with this agenda for a long time, as well as newcomers. The level of agreement about what needs to be done, as well as some real expertise in making it happen was very evident. Let’s hope that government is listening.