Tensions between people of different ethnic groups and faiths in British society must be tackled, says Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, as she launched a Commission on Integration and Cohesion, she urged a "new and honest" debate on diversity.

The body, which will start work next month, will look at how communities in England tackle tensions and extremism. The launch of the commission, which was originally mooted last July, comes amid growing fears of alienation, especially among young Muslims.

It will tour the UK before reporting next June, looking at how towns, cities and communities tackle challenges such as segregation and social or economic divisions between different ethnic groups.

The commission is designed to carry on some of the research that followed riots in northern towns in 2001. Following that violence, experts warned the government some communities were leading "parallel lives" with little or no contact with each other.

In a speech in London, Ms Kelly said the UK had moved away from an era of "uniform consensus" about multi-culturalism. People were now questioning whether multi-culturalism instead encouraged separateness, she said.

Meg Munn, Minister for Women and Equality, has just made a speech at the Commission for Racial Equality Conference. She says communities do not thrive if the people living in them feel there is little prospect of a better future.

For the full text go to: www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1501392