But the visible lack of control over asylum in the Channel, and a heightened political debate about failed efforts to ‘stop the boats,’ have seen a moderate hardening and polarising of attitudes over the last two years.12 The geography of sporadic outbreaks of disorder is correlated both with socio-economic disadvantage in general, and with patterns of the recent dispersal of asylum-seekers in par. [...] The Government should avoid having parallel, segmented messages addressing concerns about the pace of immigration to a majority/conservative group and the fear of racist violence to ethnic and faith minorities and the liberal left. [...] The government should engage and respond to legitimate concerns, legitimately expressed – not because of the disorder and violence, but because of the message and mandate of the general election for change. [...] The Government should develop a cohesion strategy through consultation with local and regional government, public bodies, faith and civil society organisations, drawing together a detailed picture of the cohesion challenges facing the country, the effectiveness and adequacy of existing policy and practice, and proposals for new approaches at a local, regional and national levels. [...] The Government could also seek to appoint a senior advisor on British Muslims and should consider the need for effective reporting to monitor Anti-Muslim hate crime, including a review of the current infrastructure and the appointment of a body to undertake this work.
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