Tories hit out at political correctness

Wednesday, 4 March 2009 2:00 PM

By politics.co.uk staff

The shadow justice secretary has launched a wide-ranging attack on Labour's "zealous" political correctness and set out the Tory vision of multicultural Britain, in a speech in London today.

At the annual Lord Smith of Clifton Lecture at Queen Mary, University of London, Dominic Grieve argued the government had spent its time in power addressing people as part of their ethnic, religious of social group, rather than as individuals.

Mr Grieve referred to "a decade of courting self-appointed heads of minority groups and pandering to special interest lobbies, ignoring the range of opinions and depth of diversity in modern Britain."

He then argued that this approach allows "negative cultural imports", such as forced marriage, into British society because of a misplaced commitment to "cultural sensitivity".

"Indeed the reluctance to exercise reasonable judgment and to criticise or challenge negative cultural imports into our country, including discriminatory practices against women and corrupt political and electoral practices, is one of the most troubling consequences of a culture that wishes to avoid offence and accusations of racism," he will say.

The speech also contained references to 'political correctness', which Mr Grieve describes as an overly-strict set of cultural rules.

"Greater diversity within our society must be recognised and applauded," he said.

"But it seems to me that the zealous regulation of conduct, the imposition of state-defined orthodoxy on public and private conscience and the overburdening of law and regulation, have the consequence of undermining that confidence and are deterring participation and engagement."

The speech is one of the clearest attempts Conservatives have made to outline an anti-PC agenda which does not contradict the party's aspirations to be a 'progressive' force in British politics.

David Cameron played with the subject during a speech in Glasgow East in which he urged the overweight to take responsibility for their actions, but Mr Grieve's contribution is the first to address the topic while committing the party to multiculturalism.

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