Debate: Has multiculturalism failed?
BY spectator events
Details:
November 17, 2026
7:00 pm
Emmanuel Centre, Marsham Street, London
speakers:
Suella Braverman MP, Former Home Secretary
Melanie Phillips, Times columnist
Sarfraz Manzoor, Journalist and Broadcaster
John Kampfner, Journalist and Author
Description:
Doors open at 6pm. Debate starts 7pm. Event ends 8.30pm.
For decades, Britain has embraced multiculturalism as the civilised way for different communities to co-exist. But that model is now facing a profound test. As global migration increases, how can societies reconcile the challenges that arise when people with fundamentally different beliefs and values live side by side?
Across Europe, the rise of patriotic and nationalist movements is challenging open-border policies and a political class accused of prioritising inclusion over assimilation. Mass immigration has become a political timebomb, fuelling the rise of Reform UK and its sister parties across the continent. Multiculturalism is increasingly being seen, not as a model for social harmony, but as a threat to national identity, security and social cohesion.
Join The Spectator for a debate on whether multiculturalism has failed. Making the case for the motion are former home secretary Suella Braverman and Times columnist Melanie Phillips. Defending multiculturalism are journalist and author John Kampfner and journalist and broadcaster Sarfraz Manzoor.
Michael Gove will chair.
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In the heart of Westminster lies the all-day British brasserie, Old Queen Street Café. You can enjoy an exclusive Spectator two-course set menu or the à la carte menu, before or after the event. For those dining beforehand, we recommend booking a table at 5.15pm to allow ample time to enjoy your meal before the event begins. If you would prefer to dine afterwards, please reserve a table for 8.45pm. Book your table here and enter SPECTATOR in the special requests box.


