State multiculturalism has failed, leads to terror, says Cameron

Busy day in the GlobalGovPol blog office! BBC News Online has a good summary (and video excerpt) of the UK Prime Minister's speech to the Munich security conference regarding the failure of 'state multiculturalism':

David Cameron has criticised "state multiculturalism" in his first speech on radicalisation and the causes of terrorism as prime minister.

At a security conference in Germany, he argued the UK needed a stronger national identity to prevent people turning to all kinds of extremism. He also signalled a tougher stance on groups promoting Islamist extremism.

The Muslim Council of Britain said its community was being seen as part of the problem rather than the solution.

Mr Cameron suggested there would be greater scrutiny of some Muslim groups that get public money but do little to tackle extremism. Ministers should refuse to share platforms or engage with such groups, which should be denied access to public funds and barred from spreading their message in universities and prisons, he argued. ....

.... In the speech in Munich, Mr Cameron drew a clear distinction between Islam the religion and what he described as "Islamist extremism" - a political ideology he said attracted people who feel "rootless" within their own countries.

"We need to be clear: Islamist extremism and Islam are not the same thing," he said.

The government is currently reviewing its policy to prevent violent extremism, known as Prevent, which is a key part of its wider counter-terrorism strategy.

 The transcript of the full speech is available at the Downing Street website.