What would you put on a citizenship test?
It's points for passports...The government sets out its plans today for tougher citizenship tests for immigrants who want to settle permanently in the UK. The Home Secretary Alan Johnson says they'll get points for things like language skills and qualifications - and behaviour. So that means they could lose points for anti-social behaviour, or for "un-British" activities.
So how would you hand out the points? Or is there a better way of deciding who gets a British passport?
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I don't know why Icemaidens posts has been referred. It seemed very sensible to ask people to be able to speak the native language.
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I have to agree that there needs to be a minimum level of English; after all, communication is key to industry and society. Plus, the cost of translators and providing multi-lingual support is just another financially crippling facet.
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I see the that Tony from Harrow played the race card. Does he not realise that we cannot stop EU members coming here?
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The number one essential is to speak English!
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I am a South African (with English heritage traced back to the 16th century) and have towed the line all the way to my application for citizenship. I pay taxes, I am NOT allowed to claim from the state and I actually work - unlike a large number of British Nationals who live off benefits, paid partly by our taxes. It is not automatic to get a passport/citizenship after 5 years, you have to go through a series of applications and continually prove who you are, where you have been, you have paid taxes, etc over and over again. Oh, and of course, you have to pay through the nose. By the time I get my passport it will have cost me nearly £3,000. So its not as easy as the news reports say it is and its not a simple task, its expensive and time consuming. And before you complain that I should go back to where I came from, my Gran was British and moved to Rhodesia after she worked in the tank factories in the second world war to marry a Rhodesian mechanic who volunteered to work for the RAF in Lincoln. But after Rhodesia was no longer a colony she was not permitted to pass her full nationality down to her daughter, because she was female.
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Who has said you should go back to where you came from? No one on here.
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I am a Brit living in Morocco and now married to a Moroccan. Our last trip to the British Embassy in Rabat to secure a UK visitor's visa for my wife was laughable. Standard questions included "Are you a member of a terrorist organisation?" "Do you support terrorism?" I mean, PLEASE!
I have experience of a Congolese family who managed to get three visitor visas, purportedly to visit a sick relative. Two years on, they've all stayed and are now illegal in the UK. We need a specialist administrative unit to thoroughly check the backgrounds of the people these 'visitors' are planning to stay with, and demand that they leave on the day their six months are up. If not, they need to be deported and blacklisted so they can never return. But it would be far easier to become tougher on visa applications than to hunt them down after they've outstayed their welcome.
Sadly, Britain is now known as a cashpoint for the world. And you don't even need a pin code.
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Completely agree with Msg 8. We need people who are honest, genuine and want to work for the good of the country, sadly there are hundreds and thousands of people coming here for all they can get without contributing anything. We are too lax on everything here and it's stirring up resentment and bad feeling.
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Government : Hi, we have problem, we don't have major industries and best infrastructures to support the economy.
Opposition : So?
Government : We introduced nice benefits system to shift money to the deserving, but all country is deserving now. We need lot of tax to run the benefits and other systems.
Opposition : Why don't you stop benefits system?
Government : We can't.
Opposition : What is the Plan?
Government : We have good name in the world, we have peace (apart from stabbing) and not in other countries, because we politically influence their democracy. And some are poor nations.
Opposition : We also have forces in some countries.
Speaker : Please don't discuss this now.
Opposition : Ok.
Government : We can bring the best minds, skills and highly educated people and students on board, they will do jobs and pay lot of Tax.
Opposition : They will also use befit system, because we don't have many investors and Jobs.
Government : No, we define the law, they can't claim benefits and they have to pay lot of Tax for everything. Tax on salary, VAT, Rent (Housing market go up) etc.
Government : Initially we will give them a chance say 2 years limited stay and kick them out if they unable to pay lot of Tax after 2 years and before their next extension.
Opposition : Even though they left their own job back home and they have family and kids with them.
Government : keep in mind Tax is the only priority.
Government : We will only accept running horses. If someone has accident become disable or anything else in all cases she/he has to pay Tax.
Opposition : Then why people come in this country?
Government : We will give them right for permanent settlement. The British Passport.
Opposition : Not a good idea.
Government : But thats the only thing we can offer and they have to pass 5 years on limited stay then 1 more year on indefinite stay then they get British Passport. How is that?
Opposition : ROSE, go ahead sounds like good idea.
Government : We can also channel people having Student visa in this system.
Government : Say they complete Bachelor, Masters degree in UK say 5 years (Pay lot of Tax and huge fees to educational system, basically pay the fees of local student as well).
Government : Then we will give students 2 years limited visa to work, Then 5 years in Highly Skilled Visa and 1 year indefinite. In this way after 12 years they get British Passport.
Opposition : ROSE.
...
Government : We have problem, lot of people are due for British passport soon.
Opposition : Stop them.
Government : Lets change the law.
Opposition : ROSE
Government : New law say there is no rights for Highly Skilled for British Passport but it will be reward from Government (Stop challenges in court).
Government : Lets introduce the point based citizenship (Basically don't want to give British Passport to anyone).
Opposition : ROSE
Government : Lets increase that 5 years temporary stay to 8 years and we will test them in extra 3 years.
Opposition : So you was not testing them for initial 5 years.
Government : Come on that is not the case we just want to increase the time so they will not ask for benefits and keep paying Taxes.
Opposition : Oh I see.
Government : Now make citizenship test so hard that no one claim it.
Opposition : ROSE
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one has to be be a binge drinker, possibly into drugs, smoke, try to get pregnant - unmarried and teenager, support illegal wars, be subservient to the supreme leader (hrh elizabeth), be barely literate, read the sun or fhm, heat .. be islamophobic, anti immigrant, carry a knife or a gun, be very afraid of swine flu or any flu that the govt deemds as enemy number one, be happy with cctv, id cards ...
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btw why was the heartbreaking removal of 9 palestinian families (as shown live by al jazeera) by israel jewish community not a factor in todays programme?
why is some injustice allowed to be ignored.
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I wouldn't recommend my path. Much to rigorous the test.
To be able under all circumstances to practice five things constitutes perfect virtue; these five things are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness. -Confucius, philosopher and teacher (c. 551-478 BCE)
I never knew Conucious was a Brit? Well it takes Allsorts! lol
In the angling world = Law Inn - the ring - Gold!
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Think this was done really well in the book 'We're British, Innit', which has an edited version of its test online at http://britishinnit.com/citizenship.html
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at least the govt acknowledges that britishness is a learned thing , this of course against the far rights misguided belief of a british (english) gene or chromosome.
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