Starmer says migrants should speak English – but all of the UK’s languages are important for integration

Starmer says migrants should speak English – but all of the UK’s languages are important for integration

William Perugini/ShutterstockWhen Keir Starmer said: “If you want to live in the UK, you should speak English”, it laid bare an assumption – that English is the only language that counts in the UK. This view not only overlooks the UK’s rich linguistic diversity, but also runs counter to the language policies being developed across the devolved nations. While the UK government’s latest proposals on immigration treat English proficiency as the mai…