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British communities are in danger of becoming increasingly ghettoised by ethnicity and wealth and failure to tackle social disintegration could lead to the 'Trumpifcation of British democracy, Chuka Umunna has warned
British communities are in danger of becoming increasingly ghettoised by ethnicity and wealth and failure to tackle social disintegration could lead to the 'Trumpifcation of British democracy, Chuka Umunna has warned
Britain is on a 'slippery slope' to electing a Donald Trump because
'communities are becoming ghettoised by ethnicity and wealth'
'If we continue down this path, we could face nothing less than the Trumpification of British democracy.' - Chuka Umunna, Labour MP
He says people are 'losing faith in the idea that politics can make a difference to their lives'
Public's growing apathy could lead to 'Trumpification of democracy'
Streatham MP says Labour is partly to blame for alienating voters
Too many affluent workers regard benefit claimants as a 'different species'
Britain is on a 'slippery slope' to electing a prime minister like Donald Trump, according to Labour MP Chuka Umunna.
He said people in the UK were 'losing faith in the idea that politics can make a difference to their lives' due to growing inequality and the fragmentation of communities.
The senior Labour MP and one-time leadership contender warned that increasing apathy towards politics could lead to a figure similar to Mr Trump taking advantage of alienated communities and could 'get elected and bully and shout down anyone who spoke up against them'.
He warned that British communities are in danger of becoming increasingly ghettoised by ethnicity and wealth and failure to tackle social disintegration could lead to the 'Trumpifcation of British democracy'.
Mr Umunna said Labour was partly to blame for failing to listen to the public's concern over rising levels of immigration, saying the party had 'too often shut its ears to these concerns'.
'Some say it wouldn't fly in modern Britain; that people here could never stomach a Prime Minister in the mould of Donald Trump,' Mr Umunna said at the launch of a new All Party Group on Social Integration, said:
'A major party leader who would slander and stigmatise a whole faith group and advocate building a wall to keep immigrants out of our country. Who would say anything to get elected and bully and shout down anyone who spoke up against them. But we are already on that slippery slope.
'If we continue down this path, we could face nothing less than the Trumpification of British democracy.
'In the run up to the general election, as I travelled around the country, I was confronted time and time again with the reality that here - just like in the States - people are losing faith in the idea that politics can make a difference to their lives.'
Mr Umunna, who served as Shadow Business Secretary under Ed Miliband's leadership, said many affluent workers do not even know any benefit claimants and regard them as a 'different species'.
Chuka Umunna, pictured, said Britain is on a 'slippery slope' to electing a prime minister like Donald Trump
He has been one of Labour's most vocal supporters of immigration but he said Labour must recognise that immigration can damage community cohesion unless it is properly managed.
'Those of us who champion the benefits of immigration and diversity also need to recognise that rapid demographic change can put enormous pressure on local public services and threaten people's sense of security and belonging,' he said.
'My own party has too often shut its ears to these concerns. Labour has rightly argued that immigration has brought real economic benefits, but this is an accountant's answer to a question which goes to the heart of how people feel about modern Britain.'
Mr Umunna told his party to be 'wary of the threat posed by petty nationalism' but not to 'lump all those who voice concerns about the consequences of immigration into the same basket'.
'In order to detoxify this debate, we need to own up the fact that immigration can undermine community cohesion but that it doesn't have to, and recognise that there's a middle way between shutting our borders and shutting our ears to people's concerns,' he said.
He added: 'Levels of integration haven't kept pace with our growing diversity. Too often, people from different ethnic, socio-economic and age groups are living side-by-side but aren't actually mixing with one another or leading interconnected lives.
'And there are worrying signs that the income and lifestyle gap between the rich and poor in our society may continue to widen.
'I believe that we are at a crossroads. If we don't take action now to bridge the divides in our communities, we run the risk that they will grow into gulfs.'
Mr Umunna is still seen as a potential future Labour leader, despite withdrawing from last summer's leadership election just three days after throwing his hat into the ring.
He attacked Iain Duncan Smith as a hypocrite after he dramatically quit as Work and Pensions Secretary on Friday night over George Osborne's decision to cut a further £4.4billion from the disability benefits budget.
Mr Umunna accused Mr Duncan Smith of presiding over the 'biggest programme of misery for the disabled, the poor and those in need for a generation'.
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