Posted on 02/05/2025 11:09:58 PM PST by RandFan
Immigrants should only be able to apply for British citizenship after being in the UK for 15 years rather than the current six, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said.
Making one of her first policy announcements since becoming leader, Badenoch also said indefinite leave to remain - which paves the way for citizenship - should not be granted to those who have criminal records or who had claimed benefits or social housing.
Speaking to the BBC, she said citizenship was a privilege, not just a right and should be for those with a "meaningful connection to the UK".
Labour minister Angela Eagle said "after 14 years of shameful Tory failure no one will take seriously anything they claim".
Obtaining indefinite leave to remain (ILR) gives people the right to live, work and study in the UK.
It is usually possible for someone to apply for ILR if they have worked in the UK for five years, although it can be two or three years if they came to UK on particular visas.
A person can currently apply for British citizenship, 12 months after they have been granted indefinite leave to remain.
The Conservatives say the period before someone can apply for ILR should be extended from five to 10 years and people should then have to wait a further five years before seeking citizenship.
The party wants the government to adopt the changes, backdated to 2021, by amending its Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill due to be debated in Parliament next week.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Perhaps. Only time will tell.
You ask the other FReepers often for their opinions, and that is very cool...we get a lot of varied answers and it helps in our decisions.
But you seem to be pretty sharp yourself...what’s YOUR opinion on this? Do you think she’s making the right moves?
And I don’t even know how long one has to wait in the US or the UK (i have a clue now) and if there are different circumstnances that have different lengths of time.
People would be surprised how much I don’t know...OR MAYBE NOT!! :)
And I didn’t know HER until now. She’s black!
God that sounds awful but I’m used to it in the US...I didn’t think there were many at all in UK politics.
I’ll shut up now :)
I think she has some good ideas and want to know what others think
Gotcha.
I cant say lol
I’m gonna go read about her now.
It’s good or bad that almost half my knowledge or more regarding history, geography and politics comes from FR over 25 years :)
Not so good for what 16 years of school should have taught me.
But good to know just the same :)
No, it doesn’t address the concerns.
Right now you first get a temporary residency, then renew it every year for 5 years after which you can apply for an ILR (permanent residency akin to a green card).
Then 12 months later you can apply for citizenship.
During the temporary residency phase, you are basically at the mercy of employers as you need to be working to stay and you need to stay for 5 years.
Once you have ILR, it is better for you to have citizenship so you can be prosecuted (or conscripted) for the country.
What is more important is to check the Britishness:
1. English usage should be at C1/C2 levels https://tracktest.eu/english-levels-cefr/
AND, should ideally tack on at least A2 levels of Gaelic, Scottish or Welsh — yes I know that most Brits can’t speak these languages, but we’re talking about people volunteering to become British
2. You should have a knowledge of British history - and GOOD knowledge, better than the British school system teaches - so knowledge of the Roman conquest, of the Norman conquest, of the Anglo-Saxon kings, of the houses of Normandy, Anjou, Lancaster, York, Tudor, Steward, etc. and about the 1788 revolution, about the Magna Carta, about the Napoleonic wars and the aftermath congress of vienna, about WWI and II and about the British empire , it’s foundations, expansion and collapse.
3. You should also have an intermediate knowledge of English literature - some knowledge of Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Dickens, Wodehouse, Waugh, Christie, Rushdie, Kipling, etc and poetry.
And this is coming from a person who went through this process to get Polish citizenship in 2016 - yes, 2 and 3 weren’t mandatory, but I pride myself that I can read Sienkiewicz in the original language (not well) and newspapers etc. and have a C2 certificate (the mandatory is B1 which I think is too low).
Making people wait longer and at the mercy of employers doesn’t make them better citizens, in fact it may make them worse.
I would also add in:
1. I think EVERYONE should mandatorily have to do some “work” for the country - not just immigrants, but also people born there. This can be military, support, something. It could even be 6 months. Too many people born in the USA (or Poland) forget how good they have it - they should have to work 6 months or more in other areas to improve the country as it will give them a better knowledge of their own land
2. I also think these citizenship tests (on history and literature) should be mandatory for “natural born” before they get the privilege to vote
I write this as there are too many American or Polish citizens who criticize their country but don’t know what life is outside, don’t know the real details of their country etc.
Heinlein, Starship Troopers: to be a citizen, as opposed to a resident, service is required.
Exactly.
Think of all the college kids in the USA who have only lived in the USA and say “this is a slave created country, this is such a bad country, blah, blah, blah”
Those kids should serve the country - at least six months, perhaps tutor inner city kids, perhaps military, perhaps infrastructure.
If you contribute, then you get the right to vote - otherwise it is all privilege no responsibility
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