The United Kingdom may soon require immigrants to learn English before they arrive in the country, or to enroll in compulsory English classes once they get in. Such is also being seen as serving the dual purpose of ensuring better integration for immigrants, while helping prospects for greater peace with English-speaking immigrants being less susceptible to the influence of extremists and " peddlers of hate". The English language requirement will happen if recommendations from a parliamentary report will be followed.
The interim report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Integration said that speaking the English language should be made a prerequisite for immigrants to have a meaningful engagement with most British people and key to full participation in society and the economy.
The government said it is committing £20 million for the language provision.
A report by Dame Louise Casey last month warned of " worrying" levels of segregation in some areas and called for more English classes and lessons for isolated groups. Labor MP Chuka Umunna admitted there are various ways to gauge migrants' English level abilities or proficiency, and promised to provide more details about this plan in their final report.
The government has promised new migration controls when the U.K. leaves the EU. It has yet to present a detailed model for the planned migration controls, however. One of the ideas being floated around is to let different parts of the U.K. set their own particular immigration policy, with substantial immigration powers being devolved to the U.K.'s nations and regions. Replacing the one size fits all immigration policy is being seen as a step in the right direction.
A spokesperson for the government said that U.K. has long been home to diverse cultures and communities but that everyone in the country should be part of just one society- British society. The official also said that it is the government's priority to build an immigration system that works for everyone and the U.K. while at the same time delivering the controls the country needs.
