FORMER Blackburn MP Jack Straw is hopeful that barriers between the town’s white and South Asian communities are breaking down.

His view, expressed in a major lecture last week, has been endorsed by Lancashire Council of Mosques chairman Abdul Hamid Qureshi and Dean of Blackburn Christopher Armstrong.

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In his Temple Lecture at Blackburn Cathedral , Mr Straw said: “I used to worry that, despite the fact on the surface the Asian and white communities get along, they do so partly because they tend to live in ‘parallel communities’.

“I worry about this less now.

“If we look at immigrant communities anywhere in the world, including those of the same religious faith and denomination, we see that in the first few generations, certainly, and often for a period after that, such communities tend to live in the same area, for a wide variety of reasons including family, security, language, culture and their particular religious practice.

“I see no point trying to fight this.

“No society with any pretensions to be free can order people where to live; and where they live is a key determinant of where they go to school.

“What instead we can, and must, insist upon is that whatever your background, heritage, and faith, there is a set of values, and responsibilities, which are British and shared, and which everyone has an obligation to follow, in return for all the rights and liberties which everyone enjoys by living in this country.

“Over time, I am optimistic the more obvious barriers will break down, as the newer communities become more confident and secure – and the older ones more relaxed.”

Mr Qureshi said: “I think integration between the communities is improving over time.

“Young people are growing up together and understanding each other, their faiths and cultures better.

“The Muslim faith is making big efforts to reach out and take part in Blackburn’s life.”

Dean Armstrong said: “I think we have a good record in Blackburn of people living together.”