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The Lancashire Telegraph
News, sport and entertainment from all over East Lancashire
New citizen test is 'far too hard', say Blackburn immigrant workers (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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New citizen test is 'far too hard', say Blackburn immigrant workers
2:00pm Wednesday 20th March 2013 in News By Sophia Rahman, Reporter
TESTING TIMES: Students sitting the Life in the UK exam
IMMIGRANTS attempting to gain residency in Blackburn have said a new citizenship test for foreign nationals will not equip them for life in the UK.
The Life in the UK exam focuses on British history, with no requirement to know how to register with a GP, how to ring for an ambulance, or what to do if someone is attacking your neighbour which is currently required.
People working with the immigrant population, teaching citizenship and studying immigration, in East Lancashire have called the test ‘far too hard’ and ‘a complete waste of money’.
Shajia Habib, a woman from Pakistan who is applying for indefinite leave to remain so she can be with her husband in Blackburn, said: “It is important to know the history of a country if you want to live there, so you can know some of the culture.
“I find it very interesting and not too difficult, but it is much more important to know how to live life day by day.
“You need to know what to do in everyday situations, like how to get your child into school, and what to do if you become ill.”
Siraj Parkar, a doctor from India who is also applying for indefinite leave to live with his wife in Blackburn, said: “Basic knowledge of how to function in the country is essential, although it is important to be able to know how to be a good citizen and get along in the culture too.”
Many of the people wishing to move here from abroad want to join spouses who have settled here.
But as of October 1, when the new test comes in, even if an applicant is married to a person living in the UK, if they do not pass entry three level English, the equivalent of a D in GCSE literacy, and the Life in the UK exam, they will not able to join their spouse.
Tahir Hussain, chief executive of Al-Hayat Language School, a government accredited English and citizenship college in Brookhouse, said he feared most people would fall at the first hurdle.
He said: “I’m not afraid to say I would fail the new Life in the UK test, and I have been teaching English for ten years and lived here since I was six.English people moving to India aren’t expected to go through this level of exams.”
Anjum Anwar, dialogue development officer at Blackburn Cathedral, said: “You don’t need to be an expert in history to be a good citizen.”
Comments are closed on this article.
Comments (39)
2:27pm Wed 20 Mar 13
Gammon Flap says...
In other news Bear has been caught defecating in the woods and the Pope confirms he is indeed a member of the Catholic religion.
2:59pm Wed 20 Mar 13
shytalk says...
Sorry but it is definately weighted in favour of the muslim community..Try some of the sample questions yourself and see...The test is nothing to do with living in the UK as you will see
3:01pm Wed 20 Mar 13
Venomp says...
Just daft.
3:18pm Wed 20 Mar 13
ghanto says...
Some offices previously were caught offering free certificate never know
anyway
3:38pm Wed 20 Mar 13
mrdd186 says...
3:50pm Wed 20 Mar 13
burner says...
3:51pm Wed 20 Mar 13
prince of darkness says...
Presume test will be written in English to be answered in English no exceptions.
4:49pm Wed 20 Mar 13
drunken donut says...
5:01pm Wed 20 Mar 13
William Young says...
5:03pm Wed 20 Mar 13
William Young says...
7:33pm Wed 20 Mar 13
gutterpress says...
9:07pm Wed 20 Mar 13
A Measured Response says...
I am totally indifferent as to whether the woman in the picture wears a veil or not, it's her business. When I've asked Muslim women why they wear a veil they all say that it's their choice, and in some cases their husbands would actually rather they didn't. I follow the adage of judging people by their actions rather than their appearance, and I have yet to find a veiled woman who was anything other than very polite. I make no assumption as to whether or not she is 'oppressed' as I have no real way of knowing, just as I cannot really know with any woman whom I do not know personally.
9:27pm Wed 20 Mar 13
TONY WALES says...
More kids more of a drain on U/K resources schools and the NHS.
If they wanted to be with their husband that much, HE would go and live with wife in Pakistan.
But they don't have a decent health service. or decent schools, and they don't get large government benefits either.
Still at the rate they produce kids and more and more try to get into the country, in a few years we will also be as bad as Pakistan
e
9:28pm Wed 20 Mar 13
ghanto says...
9:30pm Wed 20 Mar 13
ghanto says...
11:38pm Wed 20 Mar 13
trevhd says...
1:04am Thu 21 Mar 13
happycyclist says...
3:14am Thu 21 Mar 13
Fire Fly says...
Continuing in this helpful vein, foreigners can also apply to take the driving theory test in no less than 19 different languages??? Due to be changed soon but none the less!
None of these things reinforce what it is to be British..the very thing they are applying to be.
Apply for citizenship in France & you have to be able to speak & understand the language to the level of a 15yr old French native. You also have to have proof of having a job to go to. Basically you're expected to embrace being French, not a difficult concept really. I suspect Tony Blair tried to settle there & was refused so we got him!
Is it any wonder this country is over subscribed & attracting the wrong sort of would be 'citizens', cheers Labour!
8:22am Thu 21 Mar 13
drunken donut says...
9:30am Thu 21 Mar 13
bulldogbrfc says...
10:29am Thu 21 Mar 13
Mikeee47 says...
If these people can't read or speak Basic English how the hell do they know what the road signs mean?
Make it tougher for immigrants to enter OUR country, take a leaf from the Australians.
10:36am Thu 21 Mar 13
thermio says...
10:43am Thu 21 Mar 13
berniep says...
Also if they want British nationality then leave the Koran & the Burkina,s where they belong, back in the barbaric un-developed backward thinking non democratic un- civilized country they are leaving.
11:00am Thu 21 Mar 13
shytalk says...
11:19am Thu 21 Mar 13
Rishtonian says...
11:28am Thu 21 Mar 13
William Young says...
Do you want more people in this country chasing fewer jobs?
And
Do you want our taxpayer-funded benefits stretched ever further, even to the point of £millions going overseas to family members of foreigners claiming here?
And
Do you want to import a culture, the holy book of which insists on it's adherents overthrowing our society and practicing morale, economic and if necessary violent 'jihad'?
And
Do you want to see millions of foreigners in this country paid by the British taxpayer to stay at home and breed because they cannot speak our language?
And
Do you want to see women forced to wear a cloth bag over their head because their culture tells them our men will rape them due to being overwhelmed by their beauty?
And
Do you want this country to be a majority muslim one within 40 years?
Most BRITISH people would say NO.
Perhaps politicians should listen to BRITISH people for a change, since it is us who pay their huge salaries.
12:12pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Marconi says...
12:15pm Thu 21 Mar 13
Roverthere says...
2:37pm Thu 21 Mar 13
pdb951 says...
3:28pm Thu 21 Mar 13
goz says...
3:41pm Thu 21 Mar 13
William Young says...
All we want is our country back. We love cultural diversity, and love foreign people and their ways, but not at the expense of giving the UK to islam for no other reason than that we're too scared to say no. It's time to stop it now, and to inform the extremists that we are on their backs.
5:16pm Thu 21 Mar 13
mikebuk says...
5:34pm Thu 21 Mar 13
William Young says...
The "indigenous scumbags" and "plastic christians" ()whatever that means) have not sworn blind allegiance to a cult that insists all followers practice 'jihad' against non-muslims everywhere. Islam is quite clear about it's intentions: to re-take the world "for allah". They have been very successful in every country they have worked on, and they have designated the UK as their base in Europe. Belgium is now nearly under the jackboot of the cult, and the southern half of France now has more mosques than churches.
People who collaborate with islam in it's vile expansionism like you have here are called by islamists "useful idiots".
10:27pm Thu 21 Mar 13
enki jr says...
NO RETARDS.
Of course the gov are taking both arab and yidd money.. blair even turned catholic to yield more euros the greedy traitor ..... they care not about
the real people of this land..they sold out long ago, swamping us with immigrants breaks white communities up...displaces and alienates familys and if you speak up, you get persecuted by a gay **** org who are anti this and that...morons the lot of M. enoch (powell) was the only prophet
worthy of respect ..the rest were CHARLETONS and PIGDOGS civil war and purging the entire gov structure of rats is the only solution ...but who can i trust to do the job properly ...NO-ONE, but myself a.t.m.i.t.... An army of well adjusted people is far better than an army with an average i.q. of ...beep beep beep,....... lets face it ...you have to be pretty dumb not to know the regular army are mercenaries for the bankers...murder is still murder whether in a uniform or not.
fearing islam is like fearing **** flies, they are patsies in all this, what you call "a perceived enemy" ,,,your worst enemy is ...well you ... ... ...
1:26pm Fri 22 Mar 13
doggydog says...
5:40pm Fri 22 Mar 13
pdb951 says...
7:22pm Fri 22 Mar 13
A Measured Response says...
8:15pm Fri 22 Mar 13
William Young says...
4:11pm Tue 26 Mar 13
big bird says...