If, as David Cameron suggested at the weekend, multiculturalism has failed, his government is doing its best to hasten the demise of this "experiment", as some describe it, with an attack on refugee services.
And for those services central government cannot reach, Cameron and co can always depend on its allies in local government to do the dirty work vicariously.
The 22% funding cut that the Refugee Council sustained last year was clearly not enough for this coalition government, so we now find that it has decided to lop off another 62%.
Surely, surely, the government is not thinking that the ever-shrinking "Big Society" will step in with the expert support that refugee groups can provide.
It probably does, or perhaps the latest cut is a clandestine signal that an as-yet unannounced clampdown on asylum seekers will ensure that few ever attain refugee status but will instead be returned swiftly to their countries of origin.
Even if this is not the case, many who stay will find that, without expert help, they risk drifting into a society with scant idea of how to build their lives, let alone integrate. Social isolation, perhaps leading to mental health issues, may result.
No wonder Cameron thinks multiculturalism is dead. He is standing over its coffin with a hammer, holding a handful of nails and a couple between his pursed lips for good measure.
And it doesn't end there. Cameron's favourite council, Hammersmith and Fulham, is planning to evict a refugee support team - among other groups - from its west London base so that the author Toby Young can set up one of Michael Gove's "free schools", doubtless to be run by yummy mummies or happy clappies or both.
Add in the announcement last month of cuts to English lessons for refugees in the next academic year, it is difficult to believe that the UK remains a signatory to the UN convention on refugees.
Picture: Rex Features
