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

At a security conference in Munich, 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.

As Mr Cameron outlined his vision, he suggested there would be greater scrutiny of some Muslim groups which get public money but do little to tackle extremism.

"Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and much more active, muscular liberalism," the prime minister said.

"Let's properly judge these organisations: Do they believe in universal human rights - including for women and people of other faiths? Do they believe in equality of all before the law? Do they believe in democracy and the right of people to elect their own government? Do they encourage integration or separatism?

"These are the sorts of questions we need to ask. Fail these tests and the presumption should be not to engage with organisations," he added.

A genuinely liberal country "believes in certain values and actively promotes them", Mr Cameron said.

"Freedom of speech. Freedom of worship. Democracy. The rule of law. Equal rights, regardless of race, sex or sexuality.

"It says to its citizens: This is what defines us as a society. To belong here is to believe these things."

He said under the "doctrine of state multiculturalism", different cultures have been encouraged to live separate lives.

thoughts?

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To my mind, if you move to a country and plan on staying there you should be expected to adopt the local customs, culture, language etc - otherwise why move there? Am not sure about the UK, but in France there are suburbs of Paris where 2nd generation Moroccan immigrants can't even speak French - they've never had to, they stay in their own neighbourhoods with their Arabic-speaking neighbours. They live off the state social welfare system and then complain that they can't get jobs because they're not treated as proper French citizens. Sorry, but if you want to be treated as a proper citizen then friggin' well act like one and try to assimilate. The problem with "multiculturalism" as it is practiced is that it gives people a get-out clause, it effectively tells people that as each culture is unique and special in it's own way that they don't have to make the effort to blend in with the local culture. So instead of it being "I'm British and I'm proud of my Pakistani heritage" it is "I have my Pakistani heritage so I don't need to consider myself British"

One of the problems in the UK as well is that there isn't really all that much of an "English national identity" - as opposed to a "British national identity" with its colonial and sometimes racist overtones ("the empire on which the sun never sets" etc), and the British can be squeamish about telling immigrants that "you have to adopt the culture where it was perfectly acceptable that our ancestors slaughtered and subjugated your ancestors"......

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France is a good example.  

I'm for a strong national identity as well.  Tourism is all fine and we want it here.  But in our country, too, we have whole neighborhoods of families who cannot speak a word of English.  They send their kids to public school here and threaten lawsuits if we dont find teachers to accommodate their kids.

Take the Mexican immigrant (since I'm already picking on them) for instance.  I dont think they should completely renounce their cultural heritage.  They should remain proud of their Mexican heritage.  But they should make the attempt to learn English.

Same with Arabic speaking people (living) here.  Further, anyone living here should adhere to OUR laws.  Sharia Law should never apply here.  A father shouldnt expect that he can run over his daughter with an automobile in our country and get away with it.