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Ministers call for national day, new citizenship rules

June 2007: Two government ministers called for the creation of a national day for Britain to boost unity and identity, as well as a points-based path to citizenship.

The plan, proposed by Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly and Immigration Minister Liam Byrne, also includes financial incentives to speed up what they have dubbed the "citizenship revolution".

According to them, after 40 years of growing diversity in Britain, there is a "critical risk" that communities are starting to question their identities.

"Instead of emphasizing what they have in common with others, they stress the divisions and differences," the ministers said in a pamphlet for left-leaning think-tank the Fabian Society.

"Our task in Britain, in the coming decade, is not to plan a separation... instead, we must develop a meaningful sense of what we all -- whatever faith, ethnicity and wherever in Britain we are from -- hold in common."

The ministers also suggested that active citizens should be given financial incentives such as reduced university tuition fees and proposed "good neighbourhood" contracts for newcomers.

At the moment, it is necessary to live in Britain for five years, pass an English test and show general knowledge of the country in order to qualify for citizenship.

Kelly insisted on BBC radio that the point of the proposal was not to make people "stand in their front gardens and salute the Union Jack" (flag) but to encourage local communities to work together.

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