Migrants must be expected to integrate

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28-01-2025

Here's a new one: a sexagenarian has just been arrested for allegedly using an array of wigs and other disguises to take British citizenship tests for over a dozen applicants. Perhaps these would-be immigrants feel so strongly about living in Britain they are willing to cheat their way in. They wouldn't be the first. Maybe their grasp of English isn't sufficient to answer such stumpers as 'St Andrews is the patron saint of which country?' in a multiple-choice exam.
But this apparent Mrs Doubtfire tale makes a mockery of citizenship tests we've long suspected are unfit for purpose. It isn't just the contents of the 45-minute quiz, nor even the fact that applicants can book and attempt it as many times as necessary until they pass. Take a sample test online, and it's inconceivable that the authorities could gauge how committed applicants are to assimilation, nor how respectful of our institutions, heritage and traditions. How many migrants' motivations are instrumental, rather than an affection for the culture of fish and chips, warm beer and conversations about the weather?
The Office for National Statistics this week projected that net migration could fuel a rise in the UK population to 72.5 million by 2032, yet politicians remain remarkably complacent over what this means for social and cultural integration.
After the Second World War, fewer than one in 25 people living in Britain had been born overseas. Today, the figure is around one in seven. The first big wave was the Windrush generation – most of whom came from the Caribbean, spoke English and were of Christian faith. Today, according to Policy Exchange, there are over two dozen communities of more than 100,000 people born overseas.
The breadth of diversity in this country is staggering. British citizens now speak different languages, hold different faiths and subscribe to different traditions. How do you imbue mutual obligation, a sense of common purpose and solidarity with such massive cultural divergence?
No one really knows, and few dare ask. One of the great inconsistencies in the multiculturalism debate is that we must celebrate our newly dynamic, vibrant society while simultaneously accepting that our shared values remain unchanged. We are expected to be both homogeneous and diverse.
But changes are occurring before our eyes. One in five voters under the age of 45 would prefer to do away with democracy, it was reported last month. BBC In Depth recently warned that our 'moral compasses' are changing, with 'disapproval of various underhand activities [falling] noticeably'. Since the mid-2000s consumption of alcohol has been declining steadily, particularly among Gen Z.
Bizarrely absent from any analysis of these trends is the possible impact of high migration inflows. The BBC predictably apportions blame to the bête noires of the liberal elites: social media, politicians and big business. Doubtless there's some truth to it – though saints have rarely found their way into Parliament at any time and corporations are much more ethically conscious today than in the past.
By the 1980s, Britain had evolved into a relatively civilised society. We had outlawed capital and corporal punishment. Homosexuality had been decriminalised. Bribery, tribal loyalty and favouritism to family had been consigned to history. We had introduced secular education; women's rights had been dramatically expanded. Nobody was above the law. This was all underpinned by a strong sense of identity and national pride.
Yet some of these features are being eroded, in part because of the progressive policies pursued by Tory politicians, the woke capture of our institutions and the denigration of our history. What's less clear is the role of inward migration.
Just 64 per cent of people are now proud of the nation's history. When four schoolboys accidentally scuffed a Koran, they were suspended and the police logged it as a non-crime hate incident. There's a push to redefine Islamophobia, creating a blasphemy law by the back door. Tory politicians have warned of the 'abuse of postal votes' amid concerns that some heads of households were filling in ballot papers for whole families.
'We're at a crossroads,' the academic Dr Rakib Ehsan tells me. 'There is a lack of political leadership over these issues – and they won't go away.' Successful integration in a multi-ethnic society takes work. It's a dangerous mistake to believe it will happen by a mysterious process of osmosis.
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