THE Archbishop of York has launched an attack on the "saris, samosas and steel bands" approach to multiculturalism in Britain in a speech calling for a global fight against racism.

Quoting from an article in the Times Educational Supplement, Dr John Sentamu said there was a need to develop programmes that value ethnic diversity which went beyond the "superficial multiculturalism" of the 1970s.

The Archbishop, who was an adviser to the inquiry into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, said there had been 68 racist murders since Stephen's death in 1993.

He said: "Our cultural identity and difference must be balanced with a clear understanding of a shared humanity and membership of one world.

"We need other human beings to help us be human. We are made for interdependence, for complementarity. Our commitment as communities to promote understanding and justice will create harmony longed for by all.

"Multi-ethnic harmony isn't the absence of conflict between different ethnic groups in the UK."

In his speech, Dr Sentamu also called for a renewed effort by the Government to combat child poverty and Third World debt.

He warned that global "social capital" was at dangerously low levels and that world debt and economic injustice must be tackled immediately.

Dr Sentamu further called for the Government to re-examine its commitment to children's rights set out in the Millennium Development Goals, highlighting the plight of child soldiers.

The Archbishop's remarks come after he said shortly before his enthronement in 2005 that multiculturalism had left the English embarrassed about celebrating their true national identity.