.... Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, has announced £50 million to help integration, including English classes for the 770,000 who still don’t speak the language. Dame Louise, 52, would like the government to go further, with a target date for everyone to speak English and a “sunset clause” on translation services. “It’s not that I have a problem with people being bilingual. Speak Welsh, Punjabi, Urdu, Spanish, Mandarin. I’m worrying about the people who don’t have English language as well, which is holding them back.”
More than 60 per cent of Pakistani and Bangladeshi women are economically inactive, she points out. “What is it about that culture and those women? . . . Some people’s interpretation of Islam is misogynistic. I’m sick to the back teeth of men in these communities telling women how to behave.”
.... It’s a patriarchal society in some of these areas where essentially the imam and community leaders lead in the name of a religion. They say kids can’t go swimming, play music or go to the theatre, it’s a deliberate interpretation to pull people further away from mainstream society.” [The Times (£)] Read more
