new immigrants know more about British heritage than natives

[Bangyai]

Sadiq Khan: new immigrants know more about British heritage than natives

Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, has claimed that many new immigrants know more about British culture and history than residents of 50 years standing.

Sadiq Khan Photo: REX

By Rosa Prince, Online Political Editor

9:16AM BST 26 Oct 2012

The MP for Tooting, whose parents were immigrants from Pakistan, said it was "frustrating" that new arrivals were forced to sit citizenship tests when most native Britons knew little about the country's heritage.

He told the House magazine he had met many immigrants who had gone through a citizenship ceremony who were "excited and enthused" about living in this country.

"Then I’ll be canvassing in my area and there’ll be people who have lived in the same home for three or four or five generations who know ****** all about our country, about our heritage," he added.

"It frustrates me that you’ve got new citizens who have an obligation to learn about our country but we aren’t doing enough to make sure everyone shares that knowledge."

Citizenship tests were introduced by the last, Labour government in 2005. Those wishing to become British are required to speak English and must sit a test called Life in the United Kingdom.

This is followed by a group ceremony at a local town hall, which includes an oath of allegiance to the Queen and the playing of the National Anthem.

There have been claims that the test requires a far greater knowledge of history than most British-born citizens would be able to reach, after it was altered last year to contain a greater emphasis on key events and people in British history.
Last month, David Cameron fluffed two questions on a mock citizenship test put to him by American television host David Letterman, proving unable to name the composer of Rule Britannia or translate the term Magna Carta.
Mark Pritchard, Conservative MP for The Wrekin, said that the citizenship test "unites the country and breaks down barriers". He added: ‘If Labour want to scrap the citizenship test they should declare it openly."
Also in the House interview, Mr Khan disclosed that he had been the victim of racial stereotyping after being mistaken for a defendant when he was attending court in his former role as a leading human rights lawyer.
He went on: "But I don’t play the victim card. I’m uncomfortable about discouraging youngsters from coming forward to be lawyers, judges and journalists and politicians.
‘What I tend to do is try to explain to young people 'work hard, apply yourself and you can achieve this.' There weren’t role models when I was younger. They are out there now."

Sadiq Khan: new immigrants know more about British heritage than natives - Telegraph

[Bangyai]

The MP for Tooting, whose parents were immigrants from Pakistan, said it was "frustrating" that new arrivals were forced to sit citizenship tests when most native Britons knew little about the country's heritage.

I hope he's not using Tooting as a yardstick for the rest of the country. Putting shoes on the correct feet makes you an intellectual in Tooting.

Apart from that, he's probably not wrong. Havn't met anyone who could answer all the questions in the living in the UK test.

But the real killer is not the questions but the price of the test !

[Mid]

doesn't surprise me , immigrants have a definite motivation that's sadly lacking in the natives .....................

[buriramboy]

The life in the UK test is an absolute joke and bares to relevence to living in the UK in the 21st century, if they had chosen to call it a British history test then fair enough but they didn't.

[FlyFree]

^Maybe my inglish not so good...

The life in the UK test is an absolute joke and bares to relevence to living in the UK in the 21st century, if they had chosen to call it a British history test then fair enough but they didn't.