Languages ‘deficit’

MANDARIN and Arabic will be of key importance to the UK’s future prosperity after Brexit, according to a new report.

The nation will need the two languages, as well as European tongues including Spanish, French and German, in order to be “a major international trading partner beyond Europe”, it said.

But the British Council report warned that the UK was currently facing a “languages deficit” and more must be done to upgrade the country’s skills.