Trevor Phillips, CRE Chair, called last night called for a new commission and new rules to meet the integration challenges facing Britain today. Mr Phillips, speaking at Keele University said: "We are currently faced with some very real challenges that need creative handling, and that cannot be addressed by the law. For example: Evangelical African churches that see it as acceptable to traumatise a child, claiming they are ridding her of evil spirits; Sikh activists who think that their feelings of offence caused by a play are more important than the principle of freedom of expression; or white communities so fixated by the belief that their every ill is caused by their Asian neighbours that they withdraw their children wholesale from local schools, and allow their children to make a sport of persecuting every local family that is not white. "

"Many of these issues could be read as partly straightforward equality issues - but actually they are more complex. They involve deep conflicts of ethnicity and culture which can't be resolved by threatening to take someone to court. That is why I believe we need a completely new approach to the increasingly complicated and difficult questions of citizenship and integration.

None of these issues can be governed by our current anti-discrimination regime, or that envisaged in the current equality bill. The law could be brought to bear, but in each case, though this may catch a few culprits it will simply drive the behaviour concerned underground."

Trevor Phillips, talked about the need to debate a new framework or 'code of civility' to help us manage our relations and to provide us with some new tools which would have to be backed by legitimate legal and political authority.

Mr Phillips continued: "Up until now, we have muddled through many of these issues in a typically British way, with the CRE responsible for some areas; random units in government departments responsible for others. Where no-one else will touch some issues it's left to the police, and in a few areas nobody seems to want to hold the responsibility at all. For example in the case of those involved in fighting the near slavery of many migrant workers or children trafficked into the sex trade.

"But the truth is, though our Commissioners and staff do sterling and in some cases groundbreaking work, we do not have the resources, powers and the mandate to do this job coherently and properly. For this reason, if no other, in the next few years it is inevitable and right in my view that the Commission for Racial Equality will disappear and be supplanted by something new."

Mr Phillips talked about a new Commission for Citizenship and Integration, which would fulfil the CRE's current duty of promoting and encouraging good race relations; but would do much more. Referencing such bodies as Northern Ireland's Community Relations Council, he sketched the outline of the proposed body. Its remit would include:

• a leading role in conflict avoidance and resolution in race and ethnic relations, in much the same way that ACAS does in the arena of industrial relations. That would mean training and maintaining the sort of cultural mediators being piloted in France and Italy, whose job is to anticipate tensions and to bring communities and agencies that support them together to try to prevent problems breaking out
• responsibility for funding the existing network of race equality councils; providing small grants and raising funds to encourage integration in communities
• the funding and supervising of a proper programme of cultural and social integration for new migrants
• developing opportunities for the young to meet other people outside their racial and ethnic groupings - a privilege increasingly only available to those who go to our better universities; these would include summer camps, artistic projects and sports projects
• advising government and employers on some of the more difficult issues of cultural conflict which arise every day; for example, how should a local authority which has concerns about the multiethnic nature of its population approach Christian festivals? Of course, they should be sensitive, but surely the worst answer of all, is for example to appear to cancel Christmas?
• tackling the growing extremism in our society - one which is stronger than the present injunction to promote good relations. It is not an accident that the Home Office's own citizenship survey this year has revealed that half of all adults feel there is more prejudice in Britain than there was five years ago. The number of prosecutions for race hate crimes is up by 29% year on year to 4,660. Combat the racist activities of extremist groups. We know that many of the racist assaults and murders stem from the active encouragement of extremist groups. At present the only way to tackle these people is if you can find them actively inciting hatred - and as we know the incitement law is rarely used because it is so hard to prove.

ABOUT THE CRE

The Race Relations Act 1976 makes it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on grounds of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins. The Commission for Racial Equality was established under the Act to work for the elimination of discrimination, the promotion of equality of opportunity and good race relations generally.

The Commission can advise or assist people with cases before courts and employment tribunals and can conduct its own investigations when it has grounds to believe discrimination may be taking place.

Public bodies have a duty to eliminate discrimination in the way they work and to promote equality of opportunity and good race relations. The Commission is working to help them deliver this duty.

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