Indian-origin MP Keith Vaz irked at new English language rule

Influential Indian—origin Labour MP Keith Vaz has raised concerns over the David Cameron government making it mandatory for Indian and other non—EU spouses to have sufficient English language requirements before coming to the U.K.

Mr. Vaz was recently elected chairman of the influential Home Affairs Select Committee.

The new rules are likely to affect communities with origins in the Indian sub—continent the most.

However, the rushed implementations of the new rules have caused serious concern due to the large numbers of migrant spouses seeking to settle here.

Last year alone 38,000 migrant spouses came to the U.K.

Mr. Vaz told PTI: “I am worried about the timescale for the implementation of this policy, it is vital that this is not rushed and careful consideration is given to the consequences.

The previous Government initialised this policy but it was not due to come into place until next year, which would have given sufficient preparation time.”

He added: “I will be asking the Government about their plans to ensure migrants have received proper English teaching and how this new rule will be administrated.”

The committee had agreed in its 2009 report on the points—based immigration that it was sensible for migrants to the U.K. to have proficient use of English.

In its report, the committee recommended that that the Government give consideration to how better provision of language teaching for migrants could be made in the U.K.

It will be increasingly difficult for migrants to learn proficient English in countries abroad, which raised the possibility of bogus colleges offering fraudulent teaching, Mr. Vaz said.