Handover in 10, Downing Street

Handover in 10, Downing Street

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Fast auf den Tag genau drei Wochen nach dem Brexit-Votum steht heute in Großbritannien ein Wechsel an der Regierungsspitze an. Die bisherige Innenministerin Theresa May löst den seit 2010 regierenden Premierminister David Cameron ab.

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May fällt nun die historische Aufgabe zu, das Ergebnis des Referendums umzusetzen und das Land aus der EU zu führen.

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Noch völlig offen erscheint die personelle Aufstellung der Labour-Opposition, wo Parteichef Jeremy Corbyn im Kampf um sein Amt einen Etappensieg erzielte.
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BBC

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korrespondierende Beiträge

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Who is Theresa May?

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23.03.2015
May-Rede als Innenministerin:
A Stronger Britain, Built On Our Values

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Auszug:

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„These values – such as regard for the rule of law, participation in and acceptance of democracy, equality, free speech and respect for minorities – are supported by the overwhelming majority of British people. They are sustained by our most important local and national institutions. And they are the means by which we have made our multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious society succeed.

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They are the values that unite us. They are what allow us all to enjoy our individual freedoms, to lead varied lives, to live in diverse communities and to do all of these things while still living peacefully, respectfully and harmoniously alongside one another.

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At the heart of our values is a simple – and inclusive – proposition. Everybody living in this country is equal and everybody is free to lead their lives as they see fit. We are free to practise any faith, follow any religious denomination, or ignore religion altogether. We are free to wear whatever clothes we choose. We are free to establish our own faith schools and give our sons and daughters the best education possible. We are free to build our own churches, temples and mosques and worship freely.

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But in a pluralistic society like ours, there are responsibilities as well as rights. You don’t only get the freedom to live how you choose to live. You have to respect other people’s rights to do so too. And you have to respect not just this fundamental principle but the institutions and laws that make it possible. Democracy. Equality. Freedom of speech. The rule of law. And respect for minorities.

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The overwhelming majority of people in Britain accept and positively cherish this proposition. We choose to live here, immigrants come to live here, and many millions of people around the world dream of building a life here precisely because we have a free society, diverse communities and pluralistic values.

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And the reality of those values is far superior to anything the extremists have to offer anybody. Where they seek to divide us, our values are what unite us. Where they seek to dictate, lecture and limit opportunity, our values offer young people hope and the chance to succeed. The extremists have no vision for Britain that can sustain the dreams and ambitions of its people. Theirs is a negative, depressing and in fact absurd view of the world – and it is one we know that in the end we can expose and defeat.

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But there is increasing evidence that a small but significant number of people living in Britain – almost all of whom are British citizens – reject our values. We have seen the Trojan Horse plot to take over state schools in Birmingham. Some concerns about religious supplementary schools. Widespread allegations of corruption, cronyism, extremism, homophobia and anti-Semitism in Tower Hamlets. Hate speakers invited to speak at British colleges and universities. Segregation by gender allowed at universities and even endorsed by Universities UK. Charities and the generosity of the giving public abused by extremists. Examples of Shari’a law being used to discriminate against women. Thousands of ‘honour’ crimes committed every year. And hundreds of British citizens who have travelled to fight in Syria and Iraq.

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Recorded hate crime has risen every year since records were first collected in 2008. According to the Community Security Trust, the number of anti-Semitic attacks in Britain has more than doubled in the last year and, at 1,168, it now stands at the highest on record. According to Tell MAMA, a charity that records anti-Muslim attacks in Britain, there are hundreds of incidents every year, including arson attacks on mosques and threats against worshippers.

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It’s clear from these examples that extremism can take many forms. It can be ideological, or it can be driven by social and cultural norms that are contrary to British values and quite simply unacceptable. We have been clear all along that the Government’s counter-extremism strategy must seek to defeat extremism in all its forms, but it’s obvious from the evidence that the most serious and widespread form of extremism we need to confront is Islamist extremism.

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Islamist extremists believe in a clash of civilisations. They promote a fundamental incompatibility between Islamic and Western values, an inevitable divide between “them and us”. They demand a caliphate, or a new Islamic state, governed by a harsh interpretation of Shari’a law. They utterly reject British and Western values, including democracy, the rule of law, and equality between citizens, regardless of their gender, ethnicity, religion or sexuality. They believe that it’s impossible to be a good Muslim and a good British citizen. And they dismiss anybody who disagrees with them – including other Muslims – as “kafirs”, or non-believers.

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We must always take care to distinguish between Islam – a major world religion followed peacefully by the overwhelming majority of one billion Muslims worldwide – and Islamist extremism. Islam is entirely compatible with British values and our national way of life, while Islamist extremism is not – and we must be uncompromising in our response to it.

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Because extremism is not something that can just be ignored. It cannot be wished away. It must be tackled head on. Because where extremism takes root the consequences are clear. Women’s rights are eroded. There is discrimination on the basis of race and sexuality. There is no longer equal access to the labour market, to the law, or to wider society. Communities become segregated and cut off from one another. Intolerance, hatred and bigotry become normalised. Trust is replaced by fear, reciprocity by envy, and solidarity by division.

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But tackling extremism is also important because of its link to terrorism. Not all extremism leads to violence and not all extremists are violent, but there is without doubt a thread that binds the kind of extremism that promotes hatred and a sense of superiority over others to the actions of those who want to impose their beliefs on us through violence.“

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