Britain wants immigrants to learn to speak English
Britain should be doing more to encourage people living in the United Kingdom to learn and speak English, said Sajid Javid, the nation’s secretary of state for housing, communities and local government.
Javid, whose parents moved to the UK from Pakistan, talked in interviews with the Guardian newspaper and the BBC on Wednesday about having to translate for his mother when he was a 6-year-old child when she made visits to her doctor.
“We estimate that there (are) 770,000 people that live in (England) that speak hardly any or no English,” he told the Guardian.
“And most of those people — we estimate 60 to 70 percent — are women. And most of those women, in turn, are of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin.”
Javid said his mother’s decision to learn English after 15 years in Britain “transformed her life”. He said the government wants people to learn the language so they can enjoy more of the benefits of living in the country, and so there is less resentment among others who expect them to make such an effort.
He noted that, in addition to expanding the teaching of English for immigrants, the government will spend 50 million pounds ($70 million) on boosting integration.
The government unveiled a consultation document on Wednesday aimed at making British society more inclusive and eradicating cultural practices that are “not compatible with the British way of life”, such as polygamy.
Javid, who is one of Britain’s most high-profile Muslim politicians, also said he has been the victim of racist abuse on social media, something that Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, has also experienced.
But, he said the nation has become much more diverse and united than it was when he was a child, even though some communities “are still very segregated and therefore divided”.
The government’s efforts are in response to a review of social integration carried out by Dame Louise Casey. Her report criticized successive governments for failing to keep up with the “unprecedented pace and scale of immigration”, something that she said left some communities increasingly divided.