Speak English, Boy!

[Guest DeputyHawk]

MP hits out at Blunkett

 

Jason Beattie Chief Political Correspondent

 

 

KEITH Vaz, Britain’s most prominent Asian MP, yesterday claimed David Blunkett had made one of the "silliest" remarks ever by a home secretary when he suggested immigrants should speak English at home instead of their first language.

 

In a highly personal attack, Mr Vaz, the former Europe minister, accused Mr Blunkett of using the Asian community as a "cheap target" and damaging the cause of race relations.

 

The MP, who stepped down from the government in disgrace before the 2001 general election, challenged Mr Blunkett to spend the night at the home of an Asian family in his constituency to see "how wrong he is".

 

"To make a blanket statement that ... he would like to see [English] spoken more is not the best way of helping race relations," said Mr Vaz, who represents the multi-racial seat of Leicester East.

 

He continued: "What David is saying has no basis in reality. No Asian family in Leicester does not speak English at home. In many cases, they speak it better than Mr Blunkett himself."

 

The apparently controversial remarks were contained in an essay for the book Reclaiming Britishness, in which Mr Blunkett suggested speaking English at home would help immigrants "overcome the schizophrenia which bedevils generational relationships".

 

He wrote: "We must strive to connect people from different backgrounds, tackle segregation and overcome mutual hostility and ignorance.

 

"Of course, one factor in this is the ability of new migrants to speak English - otherwise they cannot get good jobs, or share in wider social debate."

 

He continued: "However, speaking English enables parents to converse with their children in English, as well as in their historic mother tongue, at home and to participate in wider modern culture.

 

"It helps overcome the schizophrenia which bedevils generational relationships.

 

"In as many as 30 per cent of Asian British households, according to the recent citizenship survey, English is not spoken at home."

 

The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) said that Mr Blunkett’s comments were unacceptable and said the Home Secretary should stay out of private life.

 

Beverley Bernard, the acting chairwoman of the CRE, said: "The commission has always supported the view that proficiency in English is a springboard for future independence. But the suggestion that we might proscribe what, how and when a language is spoken in people’s private homes is not acceptable."

 

However, Mr Blunkett was supported by fellow Labour MP Parmjit Dhanda, who said the Home Secretary had made "an obvious statement".

 

"Let there be no doubt that if we don’t talk about these issues, people in pubs and clubs up and down the land will, in fact, talk about them," he said.

 

Downing Street also stood by Mr Blunkett, pointing out the comments had been taken from a wide-ranging 3,000-word essay.

 

"What the Home Secretary was saying is not any different from what was said in the White Paper. It is not dictating to people what they do," said Tony Blair’s official spokesman. "It is simply pointing out the advantages to children if English is spoken at home, as well as their mother tongue.

 

"The Prime Minister agrees it is an advantage to children to grow up in a bilingual home."

 

Claude Moraes, a Labour MEP and the former head of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, defended Mr Blunkett’s right to raise the issue.

 

"If you look at the number of Asian graduates pouring out of universities [speaking Asian languages at home] doesn’t seem to have damaged them, in fact it may be a strengthening factor," he said. "For the pockets of poverty where young Asian kids are finding it difficult getting jobs it may well be a factor, but we have not seen evidence of that and really for this debate to fly we need to see evidence that it is damaging educationally.

 

"It’s more than an issue of personal freedom. It’s a unique and strong factor of Asian communities in Britain that English and regional Asian languages are spoken at home," he said.

 

A Home Office spokeswoman insisted Mr Blunkett was discussing integration and "would never tell people what to do in their own homes".

 

i don't see anything wrong in what blunkett said at all. british posters especially will know that blunkett is far from a racist, and his remarks have been taken completely out of context by vaz, who carries with him at all times a vat of salsa dip to accommodate the huge chip on his shoulder. he was saying immigrants should be bilingual, not erradicate all usage of their native tongue, so they feel less excluded from society. what the hell's wrong with that suggestion? i guess the hypocrisy is that english-speaking ex-pats abroad would not be told to automatically learn the language of the country they have moved to, but then english-speaking ex-pats abroad tend to be relatively self-sufficient without milking available welfare systems and giving nothing in return. i think it's fair comment, if you want to fit into a culture you have to make the effort to do so.

[Guest Rob Edwards]

I'm not too sure where I sit on this to be honest, I think that immigrants should be able to speak the language well. But I'm sure if I moved to France with my family we'd speak English in the house and French out, The main problem in my eyes is that immigrants tend to congregate together in areas which hinders the speed of intergration into the British way of life

[Guest Cancer Marney]

I've always liked Mr Blunkett. I think he has potential and I agree absolutely with his comments.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I don't see the big deal with this..

 

He thinks immigrants should speak English at home. Bully for him. As long as they speak the predominant language of the country in public and the workplace when trying to communicate with others, I don't see the big deal with someone speaking Japanese to their Japanese family at home.

 

Why are people getting bent out of shape because of this? If a guy speaks both English and another language, who gives a shit if he talks to his wife or whatever in the other language?

 

Still, no one has the right to go into another country and assume everyone else can speak the immigrant's language, although the rest of the world is slowly but surely picking up English.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

I've always liked Mr Blunkett. I think he has potential and I agree absolutely with his comments.

potential for what?

[Guest DeputyHawk]

Why are people getting bent out of shape because of this? If a guy speaks both English and another language, who gives a shit if he talks to his wife or whatever in the other language?

i think part of the problem being addressed is that many first generation immigrants don't learn english at all, and don't work at all. and because their children are not speaking english at home, they are finding it increasingly difficult to learn and blend in at school, etc, thus ensuring the division will endure.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

potential for what?

Higher office.

[Zorin Industries 0]

It certainly is a good idea. I remember ordering a burger in Dublin once and my girlfriend asking for no onions on hers. We were meet with a blank stare and the qusetion "onions.... what are onions"

 

Imagine if that was someone working in a hospital.

 

P.S It tooki us 15 minutes to get our bloody meal.

[Guest Olympic Slam]

What's so wrong with suggesting people to learn and practice the language that can lead to the most success in a particular country? If I were move to Mexico, I'd BETTER know how to speak Spanish or I wont be able to do anything beyond basic tasks. I swear, this p.c non-sense has got to end.

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

It obviously helps both immigrants and the British public if they speak English. I don't think Blunkett is saying immigrants should *exclusivly* speak English at home, just that they should practice it.

 

Keith Vaz isn't exactly high on the integrity scale anyway.

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

potential for what?

Higher office.

He hasn't got a hope in hell. Nice bloke though.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Yeah, he is. As for not having a hope in hell, I remember people who were saying the same thing before he became Home Secretary. <g>

[Guest Mystery Eskimo]

True.

[Guest DeputyHawk]

i do respect blunkett a lot, but i simply don't think the british public would be prepared to vote a handicapped official into office.

[Guest J*ingus]

i do respect blunkett a lot, but i simply don't think the british public would be prepared to vote a handicapped official into office.

I was about to get all angry at the British people over that statement... but then remembered that we Yanks have yet to elect anyone who isn't a white male Christian to be our President, or even VP. Ah well.

 

Blunkett's statement seemed thunderingly simple and obvious to me: in order to help immigrant children learn English, it wouldn't be a bad idea to speak it (along WITH their own language, which he clearly specified) in the home. And I hate this Vaz fucker already.

[Guest Some Guy]

My girlfriend and her parents emigrated through Canada from Russia originally. My has had to learn 4 languages in her life and speaks English very well and with no accent. Yet her parents, her dad especially are pretty poor English speakers and have very thick Russian accents. They speak to each otehr in Russian at home and that doesn't exaclty help their English skills or getting rid of the accent to make them understandable.

I completely agree with Blunkett, if you move to a country then you should learn to speak the predominate language fluently and practicing at home is a good way to accomplish that. Also accociating with people whoa re not form your country and who speak the country's language is a good idea as well.

 

I fail to see what is so offensive about this, but i've said it in class before and was basically called a racist when that couldn't be further from the truth. My ideas aim to help people assimilate into their new culture and become successful, the Left's is counter-productive to success or at least hinders your chances at it greatly.

[Guest Dr. Wrestlingphysics]

I agree with Blunkett.

If I moved abroad to where they spoke a foreign language, I'd make the effort to learn the native tongue. I may not speak it at home, but if I had kids, I'd make sure they were brought up bilingual to make sure they could make friends and "fit-in" at school.