Becoming a British citizen used to be simply a matter of filling in forms and waiting for your application to be processed. However, last yearâs Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, pushed through by the Home Secretary, is to change all of this. It is reported that proposals published last week by Ministers would obliged immigrants to pledge there loyalty to the UK in a more formal way.
| If you want to be a citizen, that kind of implies loyalty, doesn't it? |
The new legislation makes a requirement that applicants for citizenship must have "sufficient knowledge of life in the UK". Applicants will be expected to pass a "Britishness test" on practical aspects of life in the UK and its institutions. The current 110,000 people who attain British citizenship every year do so without demonstrating any knowledge of values of the UK, and are not even required to speak English. Those who seek naturalisation as a British citizen will be guided through the ceremony by a registrar. This will involve an American style âpledge of allegianceâ to the Queen, and also a pledge to uphold the UK's rights, freedoms and democratic values.
| Something, again, normally expected of citizens... |
There has for some time been a sense by the British establishment that people entering the UK for the purposes of settlement do not integrate here very well. There is the notion that people should carry the values of this society in addition to receiving a passport. An immigration minister has said: "Becoming a British citizen should not be about obtaining a bit of paper and a passportâŠâ British society values the freedom to choose whether you are straight or gay, believe in a creator or be an atheist and be able to live and make laws however you want. The effects of these values can be seen around us today, in the constant altering of laws to accommodate changing values, and the constant redefinition of religion to accommodate those values. Muslims in particular have been the subject of various criticisms by Ministers and are likely to be the primary motivation for such new schemes and legislation. Muslims in the UK have held onto the Islamic values distinct from the Western ones leading us to be viewed as isolationist and detached from the society. It is fast becoming unacceptable for a western society to have elements that are in direct contradiction to it; hence the push to integrate the Muslims grows ever more forceful.
| If you can't accept the concept of individual liberty then it'd be a good idea to stay where you're more comfortable. If you're a citizen, you have the freedom to try and change things, but not the right to impose your values on your neighbors. That's a concept Muslims have trouble with... |
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