Whose cultures?
David Cameron declared multiculturalism a failure last week. But where does the idea come from?
— In the late 1960s the Canadian government set up a Royal Commission into ‘Bilingualism and Biculturalism’ to unite the English- and French-speaking parts of the country. It suggested a policy to champion other ethnic groups, too. Prime minister Pierre Trudeau welcomed this as ‘the most suitable means of assuring the cultural freedom of Canadians’.
— Canada set up a Multicultural Directorate in 1972, then a Ministry of Multiculturalism in 1973.
— One of the fundamental themes was that Canadians of all ethnic backgrounds should learn at least one of English or French.
Order in court
Lord Hoffman has called for Britain to withdraw from the European Court of Human Rights. How bad is Britain’s record at the court?
Judgments Cases with at least in 2010 one rights violation
278 Turkey 228
217 Russia 204
98 Italy 61
42 France 28
29 Germany 6
21 UK 14
1 Norway 0
Source: ECHR
Admissible evidence
The government wants to force universities to admit more students from poor backgrounds. Do children from independent schools really have a better chance at getting into university?
Applications in 2010 % accepted
101,366 F.E. college 70
166,030 Comprehensive 77
91,190 Sixth-form college 77
42,386 Independent school 81
33,305 Grammar school 83
Source: UCAS
Racing demons
German police have seized a game of cards featuring history’s dictators. In that version Hitler trumped every other dictator in the ‘most murderous’ category with 55 million victims, though some historians would claim others to be more deserving of the top slot:
Chairman Mao 70 million
Genghis Khan 37.75
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