IN an age of creeping political correctness, it was refreshing to hear Home Secretary David Blunkett say what he believes about racial tensions in Britain today. He may be accused of lacking tact, but, by and large, I agree with much he said, particularly about all people in the country learning the English language.

Being able to speak English in England prevents us from being second -class citizens. You have to be fairly fluent to do the shopping or to catch a bus. If you can't, you will end up cowering in your house, unable to understand the world outside your windows. You will effectively segregate yourself from the rest of the country.

This is why most of us, when we go abroad for our week's holiday, take an appropriate phrasebook. There is nothing that makes you feel more like an outsider than being unable to ask for the toilet, or a couple of drinks.

But the issue of race in Britain today is extremely vexed. I was talking recently to two senior Muslims on Teesside and I told them of my perception that their community treated its women as second-class citizens. They explained that many Muslim women feel uncomfortable being at the forefront of life and are happier in the background.

I accepted this, but then, a fortnight ago, I was in the house of a devout Muslim and it was clear to me that his wife was his equal in every respect. So even within the same community, there are different understandings.

And what about my own white community's treatment of its women? Yes, in the workplace we are moving towards equal opportunities - but that may only be because companies are always eager not to be sued for discrimination.

Yet, domestically, as a policeman I have come across countless examples of women being treated as second-class citizens by their own husbands. Do I, or David Blunkett, have any authority to suggest to Muslims that they should look at the lot of their women?

I heard a radio phone-in earlier this week and the caller was complaining that many Muslims in Middlesbrough were isolationist. And I heard myself shouting at the radio in reply that the turn-out at the General Election was just 52 per cent, and in the Middlesbrough constituency it was just 49.8 per cent - most of the people of Middlesbrough don't want to get involved in something as fundamental as choosing who governs them. It's not just the Muslims who are isolationist - most of us want to get on quietly with our own lives.

Indeed, the many different cultures and communities within Britain are often surprisingly close on many issues. Take manners, as just one tiny example. Whenever I go to a Muslim home I am treated impeccably. Yet when you talk to the elders of the Muslim community they bemoan the loss of manners among their youth. And if you talk to an elderly white person they will inevitably get round to saying: "The kids of today..."

Our cultures may be different, our colours may be different, our religions may be different, but we are probably closer than many people who are stuck behind the barricades of their own community ever realise.

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THERE was a survey at the weekend that showed only nine per cent of people recognised Education Secretary Estelle Morris and only 19 per cent knew who Alan Milburn was.

But after the Prime Minister Tony Blair, David Blunkett must be the most recognisable politician in the country. Hate him or love him, you remember him; agree with him or disagree with him, you talk about his opinions. And as Oscar Wilde said: "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." It's especially true for politicians.