Mr Phillips said that in a multi-ethnic society integration doesn't happen without some creative compromises:

Our integration agenda is comprised of three key elements acting as a three-legged stool: equality, participation and interaction.

None of these aims can be delivered without the other two. Our vision of integration is not the same thing as assimilation. But integration on the other hand is a two-way street.

The majority accommodates and adopts some of what the minority brings to the party: the minority can be proud of its heritage, even when adapting its ways to be compatible with the majority with whom they now live.

These challenges transcend the law. They are often softer issues that are locally driven. A law cannot tell us how to behave to each other it can only provide the framework for our interaction.

This is about changing people's attitudes and that means everyone's attitudes no matter their cultural background or nationality. It is work that goes beyond the power of the law.

Trevor Phillips was delivering a lecture organised by the University of Nottingham on Wednesday 8th February 2006.