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Communities secretary says speaking English is vital for UK migrants

17/02/2008

Communities secretary Hazel Blears has called for migrants to consider learning English as their "absolute top priority".

Ms Blears encouraged foreigners to learn the language as it improved their job prospects and was a benefit to society as well.

Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show, she also said that translation work conducted by local authorities should be reduced in order to encourage people to learn English and thereby improve integration in society.

Ms Blears said: "If you want to get on, if you want to get a job, if you want to look after your family, the ability to speak the language is fundamental. We're saying to local authorities in particular - don't go translating all the documents that you used to in the past.

"Think very carefully about how you can bring people together," she added.

The communities secretary emphasised that emergency instructions should be available in native languages but recommended that every effort be made to improve foreigners' understanding of English.

"If you've got emergency instructions for how to get to the accident and emergency department in the hospital, if you have a terrible accident, then you may well need to translate that.

"But the advice is 'think twice' and maybe you can do things in a pictorial way that has the English translation underneath. So actually, in the process of giving people information, you're helping them to learn English as well," she said.

She added that she supported a diverse multicultural society but emphasised the importance of integration by saying that people "leading separate lives" would be a dangerous phenomenon.