What have been the government and community responses to the rioting in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham? How have communities moved forward towards the ideal goal of community cohesion?

Masood Din RE 3019

The question we need to address firstly is “What is community cohesion?” Community cohesion can be described in many different ways and also has many different foundations to it but the general picture and the most common explanation of community cohesion is “what must happen in all communities to help different groups of people get on well together through the integration of new and existing residents.” (http://www.stockton.gov.uk/yourcouncil/equalityanddiversity/communitycohesion/whatiscommunitycohesion/).

It has also been mentioned that a cohesive community is one where there is a common vision and a sense of belonging for all communities; the diversity of people’s different backgrounds and circumstances are appreciated and positively valued; those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities; and strong and positive relationships are being developed between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, in schools and within neighbourhoods (Journal on Community Cohesion: 1).

The towns that need to be addressed are the towns of Bradford, Burnley and Oldham – they all have a diverse population consisting of white indigenous as well as South Asian Communities. The South Asian communities make a significant size of the population in all three towns, although the South Asian groups include Pakistani, Bangladeshis and other smaller South Asian groups. The towns all have a very similar cultural heritage. The South Asian communities have all been residing in these towns over 50 years and they all shared in the cotton histories of the town as many of the people from these groups are descendants of migrants who came to work in the mills after the First World War. When these families moved over from their respective countries, the majority being from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, they also brought over with them their culture, tradition and more importantly their religion – Islam. Before the 1950’s and 1960’s, Islam wasn’t a big a religion in England as it is now. Islam is a major way in which the people from minority ethnic groups differentiate themselves from others.

Most families who are from these ethnic minority backgrounds suffer financially and socially also. More than 80 per cent of the Pakistani and Bangladeshi community live in households whose income is below the national average; on average, these households contain twice as many people as white households; more than half of Pakistani and Bangladeshi households live in the most deprived 10% of wards in England, compared with only 14% of white households; Pakistani and Bangladeshi men are 2 and a half times more likely to be unemployed than White men and those in work receive only two thirds of the average earnings of white men (Modood et. al. 1997) (Bagguley and Hussain (1:2003)).

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The riots in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham that took place in 2001 were on a large scale. They were brought about by many factors ranging ultimately from “simple” language differences to religious and cultural differences. The riots in Bradford were seen as many as racially motivated. This resulted in the rise of far-right movements such as the BNP (British National Party) and the NF (National Front). The main Cantle report, commissioned by the Home Office, said people in Britain were leading "parallel" and "polarised" lives where people from different backgrounds did not mix. A report on the Burnley riots said it called for local and government action to tackle the deprivation and "disillusionment" of young people which has led to "violence and prejudice." (). Looking further into the riots, David Blunkett, former Home Secretary, insisted that the main focus should be on the causes of crime - in this case "clearly alienation and deprivation." He also went on to say that young Asian men must be convinced that they are full members of society. ().

The riots resulted in millions of pounds of damage to the towns of Bradford, Burnley and Oldham. Fortunately no one was killed in the riots although there were hundreds of people injured including police officers. The worst of the riots took place in Bradford where the majority of the injured were police officers – over 300 casualties and only 14 members of the public were injured (Denham, 7:2002). Bradford faced damages of up to £10 million as a result of rioting between members of the public and police.

Ritchie’s report into the Oldham riots looked more into why communities were segregated rather than drawing a conclusion on community cohesion. Ritchie concludes that the main cause for residential segregation has been within the indigenous and Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities of people “to live with their own kind.” (Ritchie 9:2001). According to Ritchie’s report, we can say that in a way ethnic minority groups are being blamed for the segregation in society.

There was a mixed response from the government and communities as a follow on from the riots. “Community cohesion” was put further up on the agenda for the government and more focus was also put towards it. The local councils of the related areas where the riots took place went about improving financial deprivation in addition to housing and education. Many initiatives were introduced to promote integration and reduce segregation, including new housing projects in partnership with local housing associations like the ‘Ashiana’ Housing Association in Oldham who provide low-cost housing for people who are in need of a house. Housing associations do not take any profit from this and are solely there to help those in need. Building Schools for the Future and other similar projects ensured that schools were promoting segregation. The follow on from this was also developed in nearby towns, namely, Nelson, Brierfield and Blackburn.

The government’s reaction to the riots was also a positive one. John Denham, then Member of Parliament, stated in a report that “Investment is being made into housing, transport, education, health and regeneration. Action is being taken to tackle anti-social behaviour and to reduce crime. SureStart, improved school standards and the Children’s Fund are all intended to improve the life chances of children and young people. But we must now ensure that these, and other programmes, all contribute effectively to the development of community cohesion.” (Denham, Introduction; Point 12:2002). The government has invented new initiatives to develop community cohesion. But to further develop community cohesion, I think it is also vital for parents to teach their children the morals and values they need and will need in the future when they go out in to the world of work. Ethnic minority children are most at risk of not being the most cohesive as they might have a “culture clash” between school and home.

Moving on from the riots, communities across the country have learnt a lesson and motivated community cohesion between people. The Denham Report says that “community cohesion should be made an explicit aim of Government at national and local levels” and that Government policy must promote cross-community relations wherever possible – through youth work, schools, health and social care provision, regeneration, culture and sport (Denham 21:2002). The official reports on the riots in Burnley, Bradford and Oldham from Cantle, Denham and Ritchie which were published by the Home Office all agree that there needs to be more attention towards schooling in general and more specifically schooling younger children. Policing was increased in all three of the towns. The government reaction saw the introduction of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and the use of Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) (Cantle 41:2006). A great emphasis has been put mainly on schooling and in turn there has been a great deal of progress around improving schools and making education more cohesive for children. Ritchie (2001:11) says that greater emphasis is needed on raising the levels of achievement of ethnic minority pupils and in relevance to some Asian pupils’ long absence from school it is stated that a much tougher approach must be taken to tackle this problem.

New schools need to be attractive to all communities. More needs to be done in engaging parents from all communities in school-based community cohesion initiatives (Cantle 2006:56). Tackling institutional racism in all forms must remain a high priority for everyone in the community.

The National College believes that Religious Education (RE) can play a major role in community cohesion within pupils in schools. It says that there are three ways in which Religious Education can do this; 1)The community within which the school is located - RE provides opportunities to investigate patterns of diversity of religion and belief and forge links with different groups in the local area. 2) The UK community - a major focus of RE is the study of diversity of religion and belief in the UK and how this influences national life. 3) The global community - RE involves the study of matters of global significance recognising the diversity of religion and belief and its impact on world issues. (Community Cohesion; National College)

In some ways there have been improvements to community cohesion i.e. Government funded groups such as CVS (Community Voluntary Services) promoting cohesion, better cohesive schools and the Governments attempt in tackling deprivation.

In other ways cohesion has been challenged even further with young South Asians and identity crisis, Islamisation and Islamophobia and the rise of the far-right.

Each individual must play a part in making society more cohesive. Although the Government and local councils are doing everything to promote community cohesion, it is ultimately down to the individual to make society function more coherently. 'Government cannot create or impose community cohesion. It is something that communities must do themselves with Government's help as enabler and supporter.' (Denham, 2002: 34). In addition to this, 'There is a willingness to put responsibility onto the shoulders of officialdom which too easily can be a reason for people not to shape up to their own responsibilities, beginning with their own attitudes. People must be prepared to look hard and honestly at these and where they need to change to decide to change them.' (Ritchie, 2001: 4).

Housing has improved dramatically over the past few years. There has been a large increase in the number of Europeans living harmoniously with ethnic minority South Asians and English natives all in the same area. The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 has seen a large number of Polish nationals migrating to the U.K further increasing cohesion between individuals. The increase in minority ethnic groups in the job sector has further added to the fact that society is becoming more and more cohesive. Although the minority ethnic groups are now finding work there is still a large number of them who are unemployed. In 1997-1998 the Labour Force Survey showed that unemployment stood at 8% for Indians, 19% among the black community, and 21% among Bangladeshis and Pakistanis (Labour Force Survey (1997-1998). Although an unemployment rate for Pakistanis was up on previous years. It went from 17.9% in 2002 and grew to 18.8% in 2010 (Labour Force Survey 2010).

As in the past, South Asians only married to people of their own race i.e. going back to their parents’ country of birth, this still occurs now. Although, nowadays there is an increase in South Asians getting married to people of different races e.g. South Asians getting married to English natives and therefore the product of these marriages is mixed race children. These children grow up with parents from different backgrounds and hence the children learn about more than one culture and at the same time about community cohesion. This has, to an extent, been as a result of tougher government restrictions on immigration. The government has done its utmost best to keep the law on immigration up to date. The Immigration Rules were last updated in April 2011 (UK Border Agency) And everything is being done to make it tougher for immigrants to enter the UK. All immigrants applying to enter the UK are now required to have a sound understanding of the English language and will also be tested on their language skills in their home country - unlike before when immigrants could enter the country freely.

It is also no longer a taboo to talk about different ethnicities without causing offence to anyone or any one institute. This will in course lead to more communication of different communities.

However, the question can be posed “have we actually become more coherent as a community following these riots,” as some people may argue that there is more of a segregation and an increase in hatred between communities since the riots occurred. This being due to communities rebelling from one another and further moving away from cohesion rather than towards it i.e. becoming more segregated.

Bibliography

Journal on Community Cohesion; Our Responsibility; Available at (http://www.dorsetrec.org.uk/Pubs/Research/Docs/cohesion.pdf)

Bagguley, P. and Hussain, Y. (2003) 'The Bradford 'Riot' of 2001: a preliminary analysis', in Barker, C. and Tyldesley, M. (eds.) Ninth International Conference on Alternative Futures and Popular Protest. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University. (Available at: )

Denham, J. (2002) Building Cohesive Communities: A Report of the Ministerial Group on Public Order and Community Cohesion, London: Home Office.

Cantle, T. 2006, The Institute of Community Cohesion: Review of Community Cohesion in Oldham: Challenging Local Communities to Change Oldham; Final Report.

Ritchie, D. 2001 Oldham Independent Review

Modood, T. et. al. 1997 Ethnic Minorities in Britain: diversity and disadvantage, London: Policy Studies Institute.

UK Border Agency, Home Office available at ()

Labour Force Survey 2010 available at ()

Labour Force Survey 1997-1998 available at ()

National College: Community Cohesion Article; available at

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