Author Archive for homer

From John F. Burns in The New York Times:

Faced with growing alarm about Islamic militants who have made Britain one of Europe’s most active bases for terrorist plots, Prime Minister David Cameron has mounted an attack on the country’s decades-old policy of “multiculturalism,” saying it has encouraged “segregated communities” where Islamic extremism can thrive.

Speaking at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, Mr. Cameron condemned what he called the “hands-off tolerance” in Britain and other European nations that has encouraged Muslims and other immigrant groups “to live separate lives, apart from each other and the mainstream.”

He said that the policy had allowed Islamic militants leeway to radicalize young Muslims, some of whom went on to “the next level” by becoming terrorists, and that Europe could not defeat terrorism “simply by the actions we take outside our borders,” with military actions like the war in Afghanistan.

“Europe needs to wake up to what is happening in our own countries,” he said. “We have to get to the root of the problem.”

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From James Brockett in People Management:

All listed companies should be required to measure their progress on improving diversity but there should be no quotas for the number of women on boards, the CBI has argued.

In its submission to the review being carried out by Lord Davies on increasing female representation in the boardroom, the business group called for the UK corporate governance code to be revised to require listed companies to report on diversity on a “comply or explain basis”. This would mean companies reporting on their progress towards internally-set targets and having to explain if they fail to deliver.

Firms in sectors with many female employees would be expected to set themselves higher targets on female representation than in more male-dominated industries which would be starting from a lower base.

The CBI pointed out that an Australian scheme along these lines has already resulted in 27 per cent of new board appointments in 2010 being women, compared to just 5 per cent in 2009.

CBI president Helen Alexander said: “Although women make up half of the population and more than half of university graduates, they remain woefully under-represented at board level. We need to see more women progressing through the ranks and do more to keep them moving along the career pipeline into the top jobs. Schemes such as flexible working, mentoring and networking have helped, but making progress at the very top levels of business will require more sophisticated talent management. What is needed is cultural change, not quotas, ratios or tokenism.”

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From Ian Traynor in The Guardian:

In a country that elevated social democracy into the natural form of government for decades, Maria has been a loyal stalwart. The 66-year-old retired canteen worker has always voted for Sweden‘s Social Democratic party, like the vast majority in her working-class suburb of Malmo. Until last Sunday, that is. That morning Maria broke the habit of a lifetime and in doing so helped redraw the map of Swedish politics. She voted for an extreme-right movement accused of being Islamophobic that broke into parliament in Stockholm for the first time, probably condemning the country to a fragile minority government.

She was not alone. In Maria’s high-rise suburb of Almgården an astonishing one in three voted for Sweden Democrats, a party dubbed “racist and neo-Nazi” and led by Jimmie Åkesson, the new young darling of the European far right.

The reason is plain. Maria pointed across the dual carriageway to the neighbouring housing scheme of Rosengård, known locally as “the ghetto”.

It is home to almost 20,000 immigrants, overwhelmingly Muslim, almost half of them jobless.

“It’s become crazy around here. You can’t go out in the evening,” said Maria, who like other locals, did not want her surname revealed. “I’ve got nothing against foreigners. I’ve been married to a Bulgarian for 40 years. But these people don’t share our values. If you don’t like the colour of our flag, I say, I’ll help you pack your bags.”

Another resident, running a minicab service, remained loyal to the centre-left, but said: “Åkesson’s right. Enough is enough. Even in the jungles of Africa, they don’t know where Sweden is, but they know they can come here, get money and not need to work. I came so close to voting for Sweden Democrats. Maybe the next time.

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