Posted on 09/08/2007 6:33:41 PM PDT by blam
Migrants will be forced to learn English
Patrick Hennessy, Political Editor, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 1:48am BST 09/09/2007
Tens of thousands more immigrant workers will be forced to learn English before they are allowed into the country, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
Highly skilled migrants have been forced to learn English as a condition of entry since last December
The controversial crackdown, which is expected to reduce the number of people entering Britain by at least 35,000-a-year, will be unveiled by Gordon Brown in a speech to the Trades Union Congress in Brighton.
The rules will affect those seeking to work and settle permanently in Britain from countries outside the European Union.
Mr Brown's aides said that the initiative, which will be seen as another shift to the Right following the Prime Minister's moves to block supercasinos and to review the decision to reclassify cannabis as a less dangerous drug, will form a "key plank" of the government's new policy on immigration.
The move will present a dilemma to David Cameron, who is trying to reposition the Conservatives as a modern, compassionate party and has shied away from referring to immigration. If he attacks Mr Brown's move, he risks once again angering his "core support" among right-of-centre voters.
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said: "Those who we welcome into the UK to work and settle here need to understand our traditions and feel that they are part of our shared national culture.
"They need to integrate into our country, learn English and use our language." Under the government's new "points" system, there are three main categories of immigrants coming to Britain from outside the EU to work: highly skilled, skilled and low-skilled workers.
The first two groups can eventually settle permanently in Britain; the third cannot.
Highly skilled migrants have been forced to learn English as a condition of entry since last December.
However, Mr Brown and Ms Smith will announce this week that the condition will be extended to all skilled migrants, who numbered 96,000 last year.
According to government source, about 35,000 of them would not have passed an English-speaking test.
They will be now be expected to speak, write and understand English to standard equivalent to GCSE grade A to C, obtaining proof either by passing an internationally recognised English test or showing they have a university degree from a course taught in English.
Mr Brown and Ms Smith will also announce a review of whether the restrictions should be extended to low-skilled workers, such as fruit pickers, even though they are not allowed to settle permanently in Britain.
There will only be a handful of exemptions to the new rules, likely to include international footballers signed by Premiership clubs, who will be allowed in for "practical reasons", according to government sources.
The new policy builds on a previous speech by Mr Brown in which he stressed his preference for training unemployed and low-skilled Britons to fill the country's skills gap rather than relying on additional migrants.
Ms Smith added: "At present, people who seek to come to the UK permanently, or as highly skilled workers are required to speak English.
"We want to go further and make speaking English a requirement for all those coming in to the UK to do lesser skilled work and we will be looking at extending this requirement to those who come to the UK to do low skilled work as well."
Statistics show that immigrants who speak English competently are far more likely to succeed in the UK labour market than those who do not.
Government estimates suggest the likely earnings of migrant workers who speak English are around 20 per cent higher than those without.
Shortly before becoming Prime Minister in June, Mr Brown told GMB general workers union conference: "It is time to train British workers for the British jobs that will be available over the coming few years and to make sure that people who are inactive and unemployed are able to get the new jobs on offer in our country."
So a country that is increasingly Socialist like the UK can require English language before entry, but we cannot???
Oh - wait, they have the common sense to actually have an “official” language...
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I read this was aimed at the big numbers of Polish immigrants to Britain.
This won’t apply to EU citizens: only non-European immigrants.
I think that that this measure is a very good one, coupled with the Australian-points based system that we are also implementing from next year.
Many immigrants coming to the UK want to work hard and make a better life. This will ensure that these people are given fair treatment, inside a more managed migration system. I can’t believe that Britain’s party of the left is behind this!
Poland is a member of the EU.
I can. Don't they depend upon the support of labor unions? I would assume that immigrants are taking some jobs away from Brits. True?
I should have been less specific- Eastern Europeans: Former Soviet Republics and Central Asian immigrants. Aren’t people from this region the largest non-English speaking immigrants into Britain?
Nowhere in central asia is part of the EU. The immigrants being talked about here are primarily Polish...
Are you saying that you too think that this new language measure is aimed at the sudden influx of large numbers of Polish/ E.E immigrants into the UK?
No. EU citizens are automatically entitled to reside in the UK. Others can be made to meet certain criteria before they’re allowed to stay...
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