I see why people are upset by what Anne Cryer said but I also see her point to some extent.

My own experience with an Indian boyfriend who visits me here suggests that even well-educated, sociable, confident, fluent English speaking people like him can have trouble finding work and fitting into this alien culture... so it must be far more difficult for people without his advantages.

Marginalisation, exclusion, segregation, communities always harking back to the country of birth at the expense of getting to know this one... all these may not be caused by the practice of marrying and bringing in people who don't speak English, but it does not help.

Which of course is not to say that my boyfriend or anyone else should not come here, and of course there cannot justifiably be rules saying you have to speak this language or that to marry someone or enter their country, but the fact remains that social isolation can be linked to poverty. Without shared language, particularly women in 'traditional' muslim families are often not best placed to cope, let alone interact effectively, with Britain's other diverse cultures. So my feeling is that more attention to everybody's language skills and building inter-ethnic relations can only help.

I don't know the context in which anne cryer spoke, maybe she was being totally out of order, but it's also possible that she's been quoted out of context and she has a valid point to make. I'd hope that especially in the current situation of far right attacks and official demonisation of immigrants we could discusss some of the more difficult issues arising without 'right on' people having knee jerk reactions to anything that doesn't immediately fit with their own preconceptions.

My own feeling is that there are probably a lot of bigger bastards out there than this woman. I'm increasingly nervous for my boyfriend and other 'minority' family and friends in this country, and it's not because of a few debateable comments about language skills, it's because the fascists are on the march, the mainstream press hardly mentions them and the government won't condemn them. The fascists want us frightened and confused and lashing out blindly, and the government wants to divide us from each other to control us. God knows what the press wants (beyond dosh through circulation figures etc) but it seems to me that one purpose of Indymedia could be a forum to talk about how we can defeat these agendas, and break down the barriers (linguistic or otherwise) to build solidarity against oppression in all its forms.

and for this to happen we have to argue passionately rather than condemn people who have contentious points to make but are most likely not fascists. or maybe that's just my preferred approach.

Ann Cryer's comments give fuel to the fascists.

Anne Cryer is a trustworthy and honerable woman with care and concern for the whole community. If young schoolgirls of any race are being groomed for sex by much older men then action must be taken to halt the activity of such perverts.

If there is no truth in the story then the Asian community have nothing to fear and Cryer will undoubtedly issue an appology.

To suggest that the matter should be conceled so as not to give fuel to the right wing is preposterous and suggests that you dont care a jot about the lives or wellbeing of the girls who are being abused. This kind of abuse has no place in Britain wherever it comes from. The shadowy world of the Asian community needs to come out into the spotlight under which the rest of us live. If sexual abuse of minors by Pakistani men is taking place, then the right wing may well have a point and the Pakistani community who are determined to police themselves will only have themselves to blame.

No one is suggesting that the story be covered up! The thing is these men are paedophiles and like many paedophiles they choose to associate with equally perverse people. This behaviour is the same whether the paedophile is black white or blue. Anne Cryer is definitely feeding the right wing by saying things like 'the sophisticated white women' knows their game so they go for the young white girls. She failed entirely to mention the sophisticated Asian women. Basically, these men are far more likely to get caught if they prey on Asian girls within the community so they decide to prey on young white girls because they are easier prey. This is the behaviour of all paedophiles, they want one thing and they don't want to get caught so they choose the easiest prey. The victim's mothers themselves said that race was certainly not the issue and to say that they are just being politically correct seems a bit stupid. Surely if this was a race issue the allegations would have come from the mothers so that the issue could be addressed. Anne Cryer is making huge sweeping statements that have not been carefully considered she is extremely irresponsible. Anne Cryer understands very little about the dynamics of other cultures.I don't quite understand how arranged marriage= paedophile. I think that these men would have been paedophiles whether or not they had arranged marriages. They obviously have complex mental issues that are independent of colour. I wonder how much attention this story would have got if the young girls where Asian. We only have one world to live in and people always seem to forget.

Good for her and all people who should stand up and be counted! About time someone with a backbone spoke out. I am not a racist by any means but lets face it we in GREAT BRITAIN! are being taken for mugs by immigrants.