Political opinion with Andrew Griffith MP: This is not healthy and it is not British

But in fixating on family voting, we risk learning the wrong lesson from what happened in this by-election. What we are seeing is campaigning designed to mobilise voters on ethnicity and religion, not domestic priorities. People were voting not based on who will increase their wages or fix their schools, but on who will protect the interests of their identity groups - and punish those they disagree with. This is not healthy and it is not British. It is appalling that separatist campaigning was carried out in Urdu by the Green Party. Campaigning with different messages in a foreign language is a deliberate ploy to exclude those who do not speak that language.

Many are scared to talk about this, they worry about looking “divisive”. I believe that we must tackle this, we need to be bold, and we need to be brave. But we also need to do it with the right tone. The biggest victims are the people trapped inside separatism. Children growing up here, in England, but fenced off from the full life of this country. Women, blocked from work, from independence, from building a life of their own. The answer to this is integration. Newcomers should join our country, not try to change it. But for integration to work people have to know what they’re integrating into. A culture which is strong and self-confident. This should be common sense.

This is why I welcomed the announcement by Kemi Badenoch this week that she will end identity politics in the public sector, full stop. No racial preferences and protected characteristics will not be used as criteria for hiring, promotion, admissions, or procurement. Like most in our country, I want to see a Britain where politics – and who you vote for - is driven by the national interest rather than identity blocs.