Hitting soft

Mr David Cameron gives a speech condemning state multiculturalism.  To be far, it is a good speech and lays out the Prime Minister's position as well as one might expect–if that Prime Minister was Mr Tony Blair.  For a "Conservative" politician to take a mild shot at the "soft-left" before tearing into "right-wing" extremists and then defining British values in that squishy New Labour way that basically says that being British is about wanting nice things is the sort of waffling we expect from his predecessor but one who went around gate-crashing state funerals.

It's all very well for Mr Cameron to declare an end to multiculturalism and he should be applauded for this, but I can't help but notice that he never says anything about what he's going to do about it.  Is he going to repeal the Human Rights Act?  The Equality Act?  The European Community Act?  Stop "consulting" with Muslim community "leaders" every time the police mount a raid on a Jihadist cell? Is he going to abolish all of these programmes that turn so many ethnic, religious, sex, and sexual groups into victim aristocracies?  Will Christmas and other Christian holidays once again be celebrated without apology?  Will Satanism no longer be catered to in the Royal Navy?  Will Sharia law be expunged root and branch from Britain?  Will immigration finally come under control?  Will the war be conducted as a war?  Frankly, I'm not holding my breath. 

I can understand that Mr Cameron wishes to be cautious and not offend Muslims, but by trying to avoid offence for the sake of avoiding it rather than to gain a tactical advantage, he's indulging in the very multiculturalism that he condemns.  At the very least, he is, to paraphrase Churchill, hitting soft.

Would that Mr Cameron's speech had been more along these lines:

Gentlemen, Lords and Ladies,

First, I would like to say that the government sees the error of its ways and withdraws the unjustified defence cuts that we tried to impose on the British people.  We and preceding governments going back to before the War have played fast and loose with keeping Britain safe from enemies foreign and domestic while using the money rightly needed for defence to feed and expand a parasitic welfare state.  That stops now.  I have instructed the cabinet to work on a comprehensive programme that will reduce MOD bureaucracy and make weapons procurement based soley on increasing Britain's military capability.  It is our goal within ten years to triple the defence budget and to pay for this by reducing the welfare state to the level of a true safety net for the truly needy rather than a soul-destroying dependency machine that wastes labour, human lives and money that would be better off in private hands where it would create wealth rather than squander it.  Britain is wealthier than at any time in her history and our technology is as advanced as any in the world.  There is no reason why our military forces cannot rival, allowing for our relative size and peculiar needs, that of the United States.

Second, multiculturalism is nothing but a vicious lie that requires the superior to grovel at the feet of the inferior, of the enlightened at the feet of the ignorant, the free at the feet of the enslaved, and of the good at the feet of the wicked.  It requires pretending against all evidence that there is no such thing as progress, that right and wrong are mere illusions, and that the only acceptable act of a civilised man is to bare his throat to the butcher's knife. 

Her Majesty's government will no longer do so, nor will we coerce our citizens to either.  Britain has nothing to apologise for. We have our faults, as do all of common humanity, but in our history we have been a force of unparalleled good in this world that mightily outweighs our follies.  Our contributions to art, literature, government, philosophy, science, technology, warfare, religion, human freedom, and basic decency is unparalleled in human history.  I will not recount them here because I've no desire to rattle off such a gigantic list–one that most of you, if you are not willfully blind, know already. It is a legacy to be proud of and we are proud of it.  We regard it as not only our common heritage, but our gift to mankind.  For nearly two generations we were taught that we must be ashamed of our achievements and our history.  That was a lie and we were fools to listen to it.  For the sake of that lie we cast aside all that we are.  Those days are over.  We now reclaim that birthright, embrace it, add to it, and will defend it to the last redoubt against anyone who seeks to destroy it or to shame us once again into renouncing it.

Today, Britain is home to more people of exotic lands than at any time since the Saxon Invasions.  Immigration is a good thing, but only when it occurs with the consent of the native population and is carried out with their good in mind.  It is also a good that the previous government perverted to use as a weapon against their own countrymen.  We will no longer be a party to that.  As of now, all immigration will be on a strictly legal basis, in numbers that we can easily assimilate, and with applicants selected solely to suit the needs and ideals of Britain.  From now on, we extend our invitation to those who wish to join us, but in accepting that invitation it must be understood that immigrants, past as well as present, must accept our laws, our customs, our institutions, and openly swear fealty to the Crown.  If they wish to preserve their former culture, they may do so, but how is up to them, they may not violate the law, and they can expect no support from the state.  Furthermore, they need not share our religion, but they must acknowledge both the established church and the right of their fellow subjects to worship and publicly exercise their faith as their conscience moves them. This emphatically includes the principle that a man may change his religion without fear.  We stress to our immigrant brothers that our friends become their friends and our enemies become theirs.  Anyone who makes common cause with the Jihadists, whether through violent means or otherwise, will be regarded as  a traitor and dealt with accordingly. 

If you find this unacceptable; if you wish to feed off the public purse; if you wish to bring your old hatred, feuds, oppressions, superstitions, and barbarisms with you; if you come as conquerors rather than brothers; if you come to carve out colonies in our cities, then you are not welcome and you are not required to stay a moment longer. Go find somewhere more suited to your tastes.

And to my fellow members of the Political Class, I ask you this question:  If you have such contempt for your own country that you encourage your fellow Britons to loathe themselves and make them ashamed of their flag, if you regard your countrymen as mere fodder to build your Utopia, then why do you lust for power over a land that you clearly despise?