Blunkett: I agree with far-right on Muslims

HOME Secretary David Blunkett has voiced his agreement with some of the opinions on immigration of murdered Dutch far-right politician Pim Fortuyn.

Mr Blunkett compared Muslim forced marriages with practices seen in medieval England and suggested that they might cease as ethnic minority communities "accommodated" themselves to life in modern Britain.

He said he believed in "diversity through integration" which saw individuals "adapt and change" through exposure to one another’s cultures.

Also today Mr Blunkett - who earlier sparked a furious row over his claim that asylum seekers were "swamping" British schools and health centres - came under criticism today from the United Nations over his plans to speed up deportations.

Mr Fortuyn was shot dead in the run-up to last month’s elections in the Netherlands, where he won considerable support with his claims that Dutch culture was being threatened by excessive Muslim immigration.

In a television interview, Mr Blunkett was asked how compatible he believed Islam was with modern society.

He replied: "Well, it was a point Pim Fortuyn in his more rational moments was making in the lead-up to his assassination.

"I believe in diversity through integration. I believe that, as with all other cultures and societies, people adapt and change.

"We had a culture in medieval England of the aristocracy being engaged in forced - not agreed - marriages. We changed as the Renaissance and change around us affected perceptions. That is happening to cultures across the world.

"I don’t preach that people should have to accept our culture, but that they understand how best to accommodate theirs to living in this country as equal citizens, contributing to our country, accepting those broader values which make it possible for us to live together."

A spokesman for the Scottish National Party slammed Mr Blunkett’s comments, saying: "We knew Blunkett was right wing but until now we did not know that he was deliberately aligning himself with a neo-Nazi like Pim Fortuyn.

"Mr Blunkett’s immigration policy has always been more about grabbing headlines than actually addressing the problems associated with immigration.

"We need a sensible Europe wide policy on this rather than the knuckle-dragging policies of David Blunkett."

Mr Blunkett has come under fire from immigrants rights groups over his plans to make people granted asylum learn English, take "citizenship" lessons and swear an oath of allegiance.

And today he faced criticism from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, which accused European governments of exaggerating the numbers of refugees seeking asylum in their countries.

Figures released by the UNHCR suggest the numbers seeking asylum in Europe has fallen by almost 50 per cent in the past decade. UN refugee agency spokesman Rupert Coalville said: "If you look at these statistics, you see very little support for the idea prevalent in European countries that they are being deluged by fraudulent asylum seekers. These statements are simply inaccurate and misleading.

"UNHCR is concerned that the current debate in Europe is getting considerably overheated. If this results in rushed policy-making, it could have very dangerous results for future refugees."

He said Mr Blunkett’s plans to speed up the deportation of refugees whose applications for asylum have been refused were a particular worry for the agency.

The agency said although there have been surges in the numbers corresponding with major conflicts such as in Kosovo, the numbers have remained fairly steady at between 350,000 to 400,000 each year.

Meanwhile, the French government has said Britain’s lax rules on asylum were to blame for the stream of illegal immigrants through the Channel Tunnel.

French interior minister Nicolas Sarkovy has said that immigrants flock to the Sangatte camp, near Calais, because they believe from there they will be able to cross into Britain where they stand a better chance of establishing themselves.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, Mr Sarkovy said: "They want to go to England, where there are no identity controls and where an asylum request is all they need to be able to work."

The Sangatte problem would only be resolved with the harmonisation of European asylum legislation on political and economic refugees, he said.

His comments came as France’s plans to improve security at Sangatte to prevent asylum seekers illegally entering Britain came under fire for being too slow.