Almost one million people living in the UK cannot speak English, census data has revealed. Most migrants aged over 16 are able to speak English, with 51.6 saying it’s their main language.
Meanwhile, 38.4% say they can speak it competently. However, 8.6% — ammounting to 794,332 people — “cannot speak English well”, reports The Sun. Up to 1.4 % — 137,876 people — are unable to speak the language at all. The figures come from the UK Statistics Authority’s 2021 census data, which was disclosed to the Tories. The revelation has sparked a furious backlash as Tory figures call for Labour to get a handle on immigration.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “It beggars belief that so many people in the country can’t speak English. It shows Labour needs to get a grip on immigration, and fast.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has previously said immigrants should only be able to apply for British citizenship after being in the UK for 15 years rather than the current six.
Ms Badenoch said: “The Conservative Party is under new leadership. We’re going to tell the hard truths about immigration.
“The pace of immigration has been too quick and the numbers coming too high for meaningful integration. We need to slow down the track for citizenship. A UK passport should be a privilege not an automatic right.”
But with the data from 2021 gathered while the Tories were still in power, the Conservatives have also been blamed for the UK’s immigration figures.
One accusation came from Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage, who previously accused the Tories Party of failing to grip immigration when it was in Government.
Official data released in December showed another record-busting year, with Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysts revealing 906,000 people were added to the UK’s population during the year ending June 2023.
This was 166,000 – or 22% – higher than the agency’s original toll, which itself was an all-time high.
Brian Bell, chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee, said Britain will have to get used to historically high net migration figures.
He told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “I think without any further policy changes, it’s likely that it will settle at somewhere around 300,000 to perhaps 350,000 as the long-run figure, so higher than it was over the previous 20 years but much lower of course than it is today.
“We do expect net migration to continue to fall, but towards a level of about 300,000.”
A Government spokesperson said: “The government engages regularly with faith communities to help foster strong working relationships.
“We are working in partnership with local authorities to understand the housing and integration needs of new arrivals and how we can work together to ensure positive outcomes in communities.”
