During the meeting at Kenilworth Methodist Church, Nicholas Milton, Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for the new seat of Kenilworth and Southam, proposed twinning schools in Kenilworth and Southam, a predominantly white and rural constituency, with bigger ones in the nearby cities to improve community cohesion.

He said: “Why are the demographics of schools in Kenilworth and Southam so different from those of Coventry and Birmingham?

“The answer is because, as a society, we are leading increasingly racially segregated lives.

“The former Commission for Racial Equality identified segregation as the single most important issue facing Britain today.

The government introduced a new scheme, monitored by OFSTED, to twin schools in this country as a way of breaking down barriers and helping pupils to better understand each other’s cultures.

They did this because, too often, schools, like towns, are twinned with some far away place when what they would really benefit from is being twinned with somewhere much closer.”

Immigration Minister, Liam Byrne, told the meeting immigration was good for Britain but governments must control it and take positive steps to integrate newcomers into British society.