Newham mayor accused of attack on immigrants after launching ethnic integration plan

The mayor of a London borough has been accused of “suppressing” diversity after launching a drive to make different ethnic groups integrate.

The strategy being pursued by the Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales has seen foreign language newspapers removed from libraries and the borough’s translation services cut.

Critics of the plan, explored in a documentary aired tonight, claim it is an attack on immigrants and about encouraging the white middle class into Newham.

But the Mayor insists his aim is to prevent “apartheid”. He highlights how Newham Council is funding free English lessons for immigrants and a crack-down on the poor housing conditions they face.

Sir Robin told the BBC Asian Network programme: “I’m very strongly of the view that if you try and segregate people into different groups and try to keep them separate, that’s not only bad for everybody [else], it’s bad for the particular community you do it to.

“Apartheid was wrong in South Africa, it would be wrong here.”

The mayor said how people celebrate their heritage in their own time is up to them, but that it is the council’s role to encourage people to mix.

His drive has seen Newham providing three years of free music tuition for all children in ethnically mixed lessons.

The council also gives grants of £250 for street parties involving all communities, while refusing them to ‘single community’ events.

Meanwhile the local authority’s officials recently refused planning permission for a ‘mega mosque’ in the borough.

The 2011 census showed that Newham was one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the country. Around 139,000 of the council’s residents were born in England, while 130,000 were born outside of the European Union.