Jersey deputies vote against compulsory language GCSEs
Politicians in Jersey have rejected plans to make learning a language other than English compulsory at GCSE.Deputy Montfort Tadier had proposed making language GCSEs compulsory in 2023 after figures revealed the number of pupils taking them had fallen 10% within three years.It means studying language GCSEs will remain optional for students.Deputies did back plans to support students in primary and secondary school who want to learn the island's native language, Jèrriais.
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Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
Why I'm scared by a report about Britain's 'minority white' future
A new study has predicted that 'white British' people are set to become a minority in Britain in the next 40 years. Cue the hysteria. I'm not surprised, it feels like this was exactly the intention behind this report. Conducted by Matt Goodwin of Buckingham University, who is also a regular voice on the right-wing TV channel GB News channel, the research claims that the proportion of white Brits will decline from 73% (where it currently stands) to 57% by 2050. It is then thought that white British people will become a minority by 2063 and that by the end of the century they will only constitute a third of the overall population. Referencing his study's findings, Goodwin said that those in favour of 'maintaining the way of life of the traditional majority population' will need their concerns 'recognised, respected and addressed.' Let's be real about what we're looking at here. This is not an impartial, apolitical study of demographic change. Goodwin's definition is so absurdly broad that figures such as King Charles and Winston Churchill wouldn't be considered 'White British' in this instance. Firstly, Goodwin makes frankly insulting and arbitrary decisions about what exactly is considered 'White British'. He defines this as those without at least one immigrant parent – creating a strange conclusion in which some people seem defined only by their 'foreign' side, creating a two-tiered system in which only those untainted by immigrant blood are considered genuinely 'White British' or native. By his definition, as a Muslim with one English parent and one Libyan, I'm not as British as a white non-Muslim, despite being born and raised here. This only reinforces what I have known my entire life – or at least, since I started looking visibly foreign by first wearing the hijab at 15: That I am always defined by my foreignness and never my Englishness. Goodwin's definition is so absurdly broad that figures such as King Charles and Winston Churchill wouldn't be considered 'White British' in this instance. But it is not white people with an American mother or a Greek father who are accused of diluting the native British population when it comes to studies like these. It's people like me whose brown, Muslim lineage renders me a foreigner, despite me being ethnically just as English as I am Libyan. Why else would Goodwin focus on his headline-grabbing statistic that 1 in 5 Britons will apparently be Muslim by the end of the century. In fact, Goodwin's main report on 'religious projections' doesn't even mention any other faiths, simply categorising the UK population along the lines of Muslim or non-Muslim. This sounds chillingly like 'us versus them', 'good guy versus bad guy' or 'native versus foreigner' – all of which fuel hysteria about a Muslim takeover and label Islam and Britishness as mutual exclusives. In fact, just this week we have seen Reform – a party that many predict could soon find its way in Number 10 – raising the issue of a Burka ban. For many, being British is about more than a passport. It looks, sounds and acts a certain way – and that is not Muslim. Studies like the one released this week embolden those holding Islamophobic views, giving them a statistical basis for their bigotry. Research conducted by someone with such incendiary views should be taken with far more suspicion than we have seen with these findings – but I suppose that doesn't matter when there are some catchy fear-mongering soundbites on offer. While the survey has predictably been used as evidence for lowering immigration levels, beneath the odd (frankly racist) categorisation of British identity, it also paints a picture of the birth rates of different communities in the UK and how that will impact future demographics. Given that Britain's birth rate is at an all-time low, we have seen pronatalist policies slowly creep into the mainstream as politicians panic about what the future will look like if nobody can afford to have babies. But what this survey seems to reinforce is that calls to raise the birth rate aren't simply about providing the nation with the next generation of workers and taxpayers. It is, for many, ensuring that the future face of the west remains white and that the so-called native population reproduces quickly enough to balance out other communities like my own, who traditionally tend to have larger families. Last year a peer in the House of Lords made a speech in which he warned about radical Muslims taking over Britain 'through the power of the womb'. More Trending Every year when the name Muhammad inevitably tops the list of most popular baby names, we see another wave of media-manufactured moral panic that Britain overrun by Muslims unless the white British population has more babies. Reports like these don't just legitimise conspiracy theories like this, they help manufacture them, and attempt to make people like me feel more othered, more unsafe. Who knows what this hypothetical Britain will look like in decades time? But if the children and grandchildren of people like me aren't considered part of the future British population, but a hostile outside force, then things are only going to get worse for all of us. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: Donald Trump and Elon Musk might make peace – but it will never last MORE: What does Eid Mubarak mean and how should you reply to the greeting? MORE: Universal digital 'BritCards' on an app could soon be used to prove who you are
Belfast Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Trump administration open to discussion on key issues, Merz says
Mr Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Mr Trump on Thursday as constructive but also candid, noting the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine. He said: 'Yesterday, in the meeting at the Oval Office, I expressed a distinctly different position on the topic of Ukraine than the one Trump had taken, and not only was there no objection, but we discussed it in detail again over lunch.' The White House meeting marked the first time the two sat down in person. Mr Merz, who became chancellor in May, avoided the kind of confrontations in the Oval Office that have tripped up other world leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. The German chancellor presented Mr Trump with a gold-framed birth certificate of the president's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Kallstadt, Germany. Mr Trump called Mr Merz a 'very good man to deal with'. The American administration, Mr Merz said, is open to discussion, listens and is willing to accept differing opinions. He added: 'Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and wrinkled nose. You have to talk with him, not about him.' Mr Merz said he also met with senators on Capitol Hill, urging them to recognise the scale of Russian rearmament. 'Please take a look at how far Russia's armament is going, what they are currently doing there; you obviously have no idea what's happening,' he said he told them. 'In short, you can talk to them, but you must not let yourself be intimidated. I don't have that inclination anyway.' Mr Merz, who speaks English fluently, stressed the need for transatlantic trust and said he reminded Mr Trump that allies matter. 'Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States of America for a long time,' he said. 'But you also need partners in the world, and the Europeans, especially the Germans, are the best-suited partners. 'This is the difference between authoritarian systems and democracies: authoritarian systems have subordinates. Democracies have partners — and we want to be those partners in Europe and with America.' He reiterated that the US remains committed to Nato, particularly as Germany and others boost their defence spending. Mr Trump has in the past suggested the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries do not meet defence spending targets. Mr Merz said: 'I have absolutely no doubt that the American government is committed to Nato, especially now that we've all said we're doing more. 'We're ensuring that we can also defend ourselves in Europe, and I believe this expectation was not unjustified.' 'We've been the free riders of American security guarantees for years and we're changing that now.'
Powys County Times
4 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Trump administration open to discussion on key issues, Merz says
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said his meeting with President Donald Trump convinced him that the US administration is open to discussion on key issues. Mr Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Mr Trump on Thursday as constructive but also candid, noting the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine. He said: 'Yesterday, in the meeting at the Oval Office, I expressed a distinctly different position on the topic of Ukraine than the one Trump had taken, and not only was there no objection, but we discussed it in detail again over lunch.' The White House meeting marked the first time the two sat down in person. Mr Merz, who became chancellor in May, avoided the kind of confrontations in the Oval Office that have tripped up other world leaders, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa. The German chancellor presented Mr Trump with a gold-framed birth certificate of the president's grandfather, Friedrich Trump, who emigrated from Kallstadt, Germany. Mr Trump called Mr Merz a 'very good man to deal with'. The American administration, Mr Merz said, is open to discussion, listens and is willing to accept differing opinions. He added: 'Let's stop talking about Donald Trump with a raised finger and wrinkled nose. You have to talk with him, not about him.' Mr Merz said he also met with senators on Capitol Hill, urging them to recognise the scale of Russian rearmament. 'Please take a look at how far Russia's armament is going, what they are currently doing there; you obviously have no idea what's happening,' he said he told them. 'In short, you can talk to them, but you must not let yourself be intimidated. I don't have that inclination anyway.' Mr Merz, who speaks English fluently, stressed the need for transatlantic trust and said he reminded Mr Trump that allies matter. 'Whether we like it or not, we will remain dependent on the United States of America for a long time,' he said. 'But you also need partners in the world, and the Europeans, especially the Germans, are the best-suited partners. 'This is the difference between authoritarian systems and democracies: authoritarian systems have subordinates. Democracies have partners — and we want to be those partners in Europe and with America.' He reiterated that the US remains committed to Nato, particularly as Germany and others boost their defence spending. Mr Trump has in the past suggested the US might abandon its commitments to the alliance if member countries do not meet defence spending targets. Mr Merz said: 'I have absolutely no doubt that the American government is committed to Nato, especially now that we've all said we're doing more. 'We're ensuring that we can also defend ourselves in Europe, and I believe this expectation was not unjustified.' 'We've been the free riders of American security guarantees for years and we're changing that now.'
