Conservative leader David Cameron told the BBC One’s Andrew Marr show he agreed that “state multiculturalism” had been the wrong approach.
Mr Cameron said: “What he said was that state multiculturalism – the idea that as welcoming people into our country and keep them all in silos, and treat British Muslims as Muslims, rather than as British citizens, treat British Jews as Jews rather than as British citizens – that is wrong.
“I think trying to integrate more, trying to bring people together more, trying to build a strong British identity for the future, I think that’s absolutely right.”
His former home secretary Dominic Grieve backed Mr Cameron’s opinion, and warned British multiculturalism approach has left a “terrible” legacy which has allowed extremists to flourish, the Guardian reports.
He said “cultural despair” has led “long-term inhabitants” and newer arrivals to feel alienated and unsure of UK values.
“Some second- and third-generation immigrant communities who say they don’t know what British values are and that they’re alienated.” Dominic said in an interview with the Guardian.
As an Anglican, Mr Grieve drew out Britain should not ignore the importance of Christianity, and warned against downplaying Britain's Christian heritage.
He said: “The role of Christianity is really rather important. It can't just be magicked out of the script. It colours many of the fundamental viewpoints of British people, including many who have never been in a church.”
He went on warning the vacuum created by multiculturalism is to blame, as both the BNP and Hizb ut-Tahrir rise.
He added: “They are two very similar phenomena experiencing a form of cultural despair about themselves and their identities.”
According to the BBC, Dominic Grieve is not the first Tory home secretary to speak out against multiculturalism.
Followed the London bombing in 2005, Dominic’s predecessor David Davis called on the government to scrap the "outdated" policy, saying that allowing people of different cultures to settle without integrating is wrong, because it lets the “perverted value of suicide bomber” take root.
He urged ministers to build a single nation and claim “respect for the British way of life”.
However, the Muslim Council of Britain told the BBC there is no contradiction between multiculturalism and integration.
David Davis went on saying he strongly opposed Mohammed Naseem, Birmingham Central Mosque chairman, who focused his anger on the security services rather than the London bombers after one of the suspected terrorists was arrested in the city in 2005.
Mr David said: “The question now we should ask is what has been happening inside Britain’s Muslim communities and how the perverted values of the suicide bomber have been allowed to take root.”
He also expressed his worrying on the authorities seemed have encouraged more with distinctive identities than with promoting common cultural values of nationhood.
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