There is so much talk these days about integration, multiculturalism and ways in which people settle in after moving to a different area, country or a continent. The narrative, driven by a number of politicians and media outlets, is most of the time negative and selective. It is not created for a reasonable debate, rational discussion, but rather to steer division and hatred.
Now…I am saying that the multiculturalism doesn’t bring social, cultural and economic challenges. I am also not saying that I naively believe in open borders and building “happy-clapping” society. I am talking about finding a balance, pragmatic solution to an issue that is affecting millions of people; individuals and families at home, as well as everyone who made a decision to leave a particular country.
Last night, I was asked to step in for the Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield, Cllr Lynn Chesterman, and attend the South Asian Mass, which was hosted by the Our Lady’s Queen of Apostles Church in Welwyn Garden City. As I was sitting in the first row, observing the most beautiful service, I was reflection on how our small community gathering can be an example of “laboratory of diversity” and become a beacon of light and hope in our society.
I believe that some of our politicians create walls of divisions, often not because they care, but because their main focus is to score points and win the next election. These topics lends themselves well to the current political discourse, which is greatly influenced by widespread polarisation.
So why last night was different? The integration doesn’t have overnight. It requires a lot of effort from all parties, acceptance and celebration of differences, commitment to making yourself one with your neighbour, making a step to immerse yourself into unknown and often unexpected situations.
It does require a bit of courage, bravery to step out from our comfort zones. Trust is such an integral part of the multicultural experience; building meaningful connections with people, and finding commonalities in simple things; from food, dance to music! Last night, I felt such a joy. It wasn’t “forced”. I didn’t have to “pretend” to be happy. I was overwhelmed with happiness and pride that I am a member of such a vibrant FAMILY.
After the Church Service, most parishioners attended the after party; there were individuals from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistani, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Belarus, Bangladesh, Italy, or Hungary. What was equally remarkable? Not everyone attendee was a Christian.
Our differences were not an obstacle but rather an opportunity to learn, experience something new and enjoy each other’s company. What a success. I am grateful to almost 21 years in the UK, which enabled me to really embrace diversity and multiculturalism.
* Michal Siewniak is a Lib Dem activist and councillor for Handside ward, Welwyn Hatfield.
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22 Comments
When a major UK political party puts out an election broadcast in Urdu – spoken by less than 4% of the population – you finally understand that multiculturalism has failed. The bare minimum of integration should be the English language. This is toxic empathy is what’s driving voters to the most right wing party we’ve seen in decades. Across too many European countries multiculturalism has been an abject failure…Sweden being the worse.
@ Craig Levene “The bare minimum of integration should be the English language”.
Oh, dear, Craig., you really are a repetitive limited horizons ‘Little Englander’.
May I suggest for your own comfort that you don’t go on holiday to most parts of Wales or to the Western Isles in Scotland, and maybe for now could I suggest a bit of a lie down in a darkened room.
‘Culture’ covers many aspects of life including language, style of clothing, cuisine, but also – and more importantly – values. The challenge with multiculturalism is that some cultures have aspects of their value systems that don’t sit comfortably with those of the host country/culture. It is one thing to welcome greater diversity in terms of clothing and cuisine, but do we equally welcome values than directly contradict our own? For example, if certain cultures have views against sex equality, do we honestly welcome such diversity of views?
@ Craig Levene 2nd Mar ’26 – 11:37am….
You are Sarah Pochin, and I claim my £5..(apologies to ‘Lobby Lub’)…
Would you say the same if a party put out a video in Welsh or Gaelic? Even the UK government uses Urdu for official, public-facing, and administrative purposes to ensure accessibility for residents with limited English…
My local ‘Spar’ grocery store and ‘Indian’ Restaurant is run by those who speak Urdu/Bengali among themselves even though their English is impeccable.. Perhaps you should accept the reality of a multicultural/multilingual UK rather than the Reform(ed) version?..
We are not talking about Wales or Scotland we are talking about Greater Manchester..
I suppose you think this Ghanian journalist is a rabid right winger .
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVPQ16dk9EN/
– Craig Levene
Major UK parties have been producing election materials in Urdu since 1970. Esther Krakue is not an independent, authoritive source, she’s a right wing columnist who makes her living telling people like you what you want to hear.
Her argument like yours rests on a false premise: the majority of Urdu speakers in the UK are also fluent English speakers. Bilingualism isn’t a failure of integration; it’s just… speaking two languages.
The percentage of UK residents who speak no English is tiny, and has not increased since the question first appeared on the 2011 census. If multiculturalism was driving a collapse in English language integration we’d expect to see that number rising. We don’t.
The leap from ‘a party produced a Urdu-language broadcast’ to ‘multiculturalism has failed across Europe’ would be silly if it wasn’t so noxious.
@David Raw, expats
As I understand it, all Welsh and Gaelic speakers are bilingual (at least) with an ability to communicate in English. Is it unreasonable to expect that economic immigrants to the UK should have a basis level of English to enable them to work, shop and access services?
Sorry..a ‘basic’ level of English…
@ Joan Summers My objection was to Mr Levene’s somewhat kneejerk illiberal hostility to the Green Party putting out a PPB in Urdu, Ms Summers.
At least the Greens were making a bit of an effort towards a sizeable portion of the electorate ………. which was more than a political party I could name did who’s philosophy appears to be ‘It’s Grim Up North’.
@Joan Summers: If by “do we equally welcome values than directly contradict our own” you are asking whether cultural sensitivity should justify moral blindness, then obviously not. That really should go without saying. But to reduce it to a matter of different “cultures”, as if everyone in a particular cultural group thinks the same, is missing the point completely. Liberalism promotes the freedom of the individual, and any attacks on freedom must be opposed whether they come from the state or from other individuals (including family or self-appointed “community leaders”). It’s invariably those in a position of power in their community who seek to justify oppression and discrimination by “culture”, and liberals should have none of it.
Craig Levene:
Not all versions of ‘English’ are mutually comprehensible, either. I recall my father saying that when, as a sergeant in the Aberdeen-based Gordon Highlanders, he was put in charge of a platoon of the HLI (recruited from Glasgow) he hardly understood half of what they were saying. That was almost multicultural, too…
@ Craig Levene, “We are not talking about Wales or Scotland we are talking about Greater Manchester”.
Please stop digging a hole, Craig. For better or worse, at the time of writing, Wales, Scotland and Greater Manchester are all part of the United Kingdom……. although I well understand (as a Yorkshireman) why my neighbours up here in Scotland always sing lustily “And be the nation again”.
Maybe my memory is somewhat off, but I don’t seem to remember anybody complaining when the Labour Party distributed leaflets in Yiddish in north London back in 2010. Those leaflets are now being sold as collectors’ items to political ephemera collectors btw.
David: It would be good to get together with a fellow Yorkshiremen in regards to the Batley Grammar school teacher and ask him his thoughts on multiculturalism.
@Craig Levene 2nd Mar ’26 – 3:27pm.I suppose you think this Ghanian journalist is a rabid right winger ….
Having read Esther Krakue’s attacks on Sadiq Khan, Zohran Mamdani, among others in her Express and Mail articles I would say yes…
It’s disappointing to read some of the replies. Nobody has refuted the first poster but has resorted to personal attacks. Having been born and brought up in a ‘grim up north’ town, I frequently return to see family and friends who remain there. The demographic changes in that town over the last five years have been significant. Do locals feel that it’s benefited them economically? Definitely not. Has that inward immigration polarized the community? Absolutely. To dismiss those concerns is snobbish and elitist. I note that our Home Secretary has just returned from Denmark on a fact-finding mission regarding how they’ve managed their migration flow. Having met with the immigration minister, they echoed the Danish PM’s justifiable concerns in that regard. Looking at her quotes, some would make a Reform MP blush: “the greatest threat to Nordic countries and Europe is illegal migration.” Does she need to lie down in a darkened room, or are her views noxious?
@Chloe 3rd Mar ’26 – 10:26am… Regarding Denmark, as far as I’m aware no-one on here has supported unrestricted ‘illegal’ migration.. The first post was about legal migrants and their families who HAVE THE RIGHT TO VOTE..
Reform and Conservative policy is to forcibly deport around 300,000 people, from a particular background, every year; would such action meet with the approval of your northern family and friends?
Joan Summers curious why you think having views AGAINST sex equality would not be compatible with the current UK views given the horrific anti trans positions from the government, abortion still being punishable by death, most titles skipping women in favour of sons etc etc. While I abhor these things, certainly if someone came in with sexist views, they’d fit in rather well in the UK and one could argue, that they are actually assimilating quite well. You can just be anti immigration of people who don’t look like you openly, no need to keep the mask on for politeness amongst liberals. We believe in free speech, no matter how poorly it reflects on you.
– Chloe
“Nobody has refuted the first poster …”
The original post rests on two factual errors. Publishing election material in Urdu is not unprecedented — UK political parties have produced multilingual campaign material for decades. Nor does publishing in Urdu imply the audience cannot read English; bilingual communities routinely engage with material in both languages.
Strip out those premises and there’s no argument left to refute. All we have is the assertion that “multiculturalism has failed”, a claim so sweeping and ill-defined as to be difficult to engage with seriously.
After all, Britain has been a culturally plural society since long before the term “multiculturalism” existed. To declare multiculturalism a failure is to declare Britain itself a failure – not just today, but throughout its entire history.
“The original post rests on two factual errors. Publishing election material in Urdu is not unprecedented — UK political parties have produced multilingual campaign material for decades.”
Fun fact; the first British member of parliament to campaign in Urdu was… Enoch Powell. The things that you find out when you read political biographies.
Integration is important. If people come to the UK speaking English or learning it should be a basic requirement.
It takes two to tango and the host’s attitude is as important as the guest’s. With a fair wind both sides see the advantages of working and living together harmoniously. That wind is partly determined by our political leaders both local and national as well as resources to facilitate that connection.