A recent report by The Independent has brought previously made claims by the Conservative candidate for mayor of London, Shaun Bailey, to light. His statements made 13 years ago claim the celebration of Hindu and Muslim traditions has turned the country into a "crime-ridden cesspool". Bailey, who secured his party's mayoral nomination last week, had penned a pamphlet claiming that allowing people to observe non-Christian festivals “robs Britain of its community.”
In a document dating back to 2005, he wrote to the Centre for Policy Studies think-tank, complaining that immigrants to the UK had been allowed to “bring their culture, their country and any problems they might have with them.” In the pamphlet titled 'No Man's Land', Bailey wrote, “You bring your children to school and they learn far more about Diwali than Christmas. I speak to the people who are from Brent and they've been having Muslim and Hindi days off. What it does is rob Britain of its community. Without our community we slip into a crime-riddled cesspool.”
He also wrote, “There are a lot of really good things about Britain as a place and British people as a body. But by removing the religion that British people generally take to, by removing the ethics that generally go with it, we've allowed people to come to Britain and bring their culture, their country and any problems they might have, with them.” The letter comes in bad taste, especially in London, where almost half the population comes from an ethnic minority background.
Bailey had also claimed that it was easier for the black community to integrate in the UK because they are more likely to be Christian. “Within the black community it is not such a bad thing because we've shared a religion and in many cases a language. It's far easier for black people to integrate.”
