“We’re far too polite in this country. We talk of immigrants having a duty to integrate into society, but are too embarrassed to insist that they learn English, the essential prerequisite of integration. Instead, our public bodies go out of their way to provide expensive translation services. Last year, Crawley Borough Council spent £1,000 translating a single tenancy agreement into Urdu. Tameside Council’s website boasts of having access to a bank of interpreters covering more than 140 different languages, who can be on call for individuals “within 90 seconds”. These services are said to be required by equality and human rights laws, but this is ‘a myth’. There is no legal duty for councils to translate.”
“The (Labour) Mayor of Newham, Sir Robin Wales, a crusader for integration, has cut translation by 72% and got rid of foreign-language newspapers from libraries. We should make other councils follow his example”. (Clare Foges, Daily Telegraph, The Week 17 Oct 2015)
Regular readers will know that this blog exists to promote the civilised ideas of Epicurus, who believed in getting along with everyone. He almost invented moderation. But on this issue I have a tendency to agree with Ms. Foges. You cannot have a society that cooperates in an effort to give everyone pleasant and rewarding lives if newcomers insist on continuing to speak their own language, maintain their former culture and way of life, and ignore the culture of those who welcome them and maybe even subsidise their lifestyles. To say the least, it is discourteous. Not all of us are linguists, but most of us, living in a foreign country, would try to learn the local tongue.
The story about the Tameside Council illustrates an important point. Well-meaning people take EU treaties like the one on Human Rights and tell the public that translation, for instance, is insisted on by Brussels in order to give their ideas apparent validity. But when you look into the issue you discover that it has nothing whatsoever to do with Brussels but is over-enthusiasm by local organisations who, if criticised, blame the EU. The Daily Mail has made a living inventing these bogus EU regulations. And the result: Brexit. “We have to get rid of over- regulation”. At least half of this is twaddle – which half I don’t know, and nor does anyone else.
As someone from Crawley, the council in question, this doesn’t surprise me at all. Councils like Crawley love to preach the benefits of cultural diversity as an inherent good, yet overlook all the costs and challenges that it brings. You could quite decently argue that it is better not to have immigration at all on the basis that the costs outweigh the benefits, and I’m sick and tired of the Left characterising all such arguments as racist. Or more moderately, you could say that all immigrants have to be fluent in English before they arrive. Epicureans are totally against any prejudice and discrimination; it was great that Epicurus allowed foreigners into his Garden. But that doesn’t mean that he exempted them from the same rules that applied to everyone else. In contrast, making people feel welcome means ensuring that they fit in, even if you have to be a bit robust in doing so.
The other thing I’d like to mention is the status of Spanish in the United States. Now this is something I don’t know much about. But I couldn’t help noticing the number of Spanish speeches and signs at the Democratic National Convention. This is probably part of the reason Trump is popular- regular English speaking Americans resent what they see as a creeping cultural takeover. Now should the US government make every American immigrant learn English? And if so, why hasn’t any Democratic politician to my knowledge said so?