Migrants to UK will be required to pass A Level standard of English - WTF?

[muriel_volestrangler]

Migrants will be required to pass tough new English language requirements under a law introduced in Parliament today (14 October), as the government continues to replace Britain’s failed immigration system with one that is controlled, selective and fair.

Immigrants applying through certain legal routes must meet an A level equivalent standard in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

The Secure English Language Test must be conducted with a Home Office-approved provider, and the results will then be verified as part of the visa application process.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/migrants-will-be-required-to-pass-a-level-standard-of-english

Yeah, that "Britain’s failed immigration system" is not the spin of a right wing media - it's what a Labour government is saying.

To be clear to US readers, well under half of the native British are at A level English standard - I think the US equivalent would be taking AP English. Getting a decent grade in English at GCSE - the exams normally taken in the year you turn 16 - is widely seen as needed for a "proper" education. But this is explicitly demanding the equivalent of specialising in essay writing from 16 to 18 - a higher standard than you'd need to get a university degree in a science subject.

This is just what this article was about:

What is a reactionary centrist, and does the UK have them?

These are people who—while not exactly supportive of the political right—tend to view it as without agency, as if the radicalisation of US conservatism is the result of people responding to the excesses of social justice, incivility from the left or cultural disrespect. So-called reactionary centrists both blamed the victims of the populist right, and spent a lot of time humanising the perpetrators. If only liberals could understand what drove Maga voters. Reactionary centrists admonished liberals to be very careful in their language, to not call very obvious fascists fascist, lest they be further provoked. The solution was to give ground; if democrats made appeals to the centre, particularly if they moved right on immigration and trans rights, they could regain votes lost to Trump.

If this is all sounding discomfitingly familiar from a British perspective, that is essentially my point. Every day in the UK we see a similar push to normalise and centre discrimination. Newspaper headlines scream about an “invasion” or “swarm” of refugees. In 2012, 60 trans-related articles were published by Britain’s media. By 2022, it was more than 7,500, according to figures from Trans Media Watch. The media is not responding to public rage against vulnerable minorities; it is helping to create it. Polling shows that opinion on immigration tracks tabloid coverage much more closely than actual immigration levels. People become more concerned not when the number of immigrants rises, but when the press fearmongers about it more. Research has also shown that media coverage of dramatic but unrepresentative cases (such as small boat crossings) is shaping opinion of immigrants–including those who are in the UK legally—more broadly.

But our reactionary centrists—for yes, the UK has them too—reliably invert the agency, and hence moral responsibility, in this story. Politicians and the press are not to blame for stoking hatred. Those gathering outside asylum hotels have “legitimate concerns” and must be listened to and empathised with.
...
You would never know it from their writing, but UK public opinion is actually softening on immigration, particularly among young people (voters that Labour needs and is losing to the Greens and Lib Dems). But these voters are functionally invisible to reactionary centrists. The only people who matter seem to be those further to the right. In the UK context, the voters who count are Reform supporters and the Reform-curious. It is imagined that they cannot be persuaded to change their minds on anything, they can only be appeased.

https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/70966/what-is-a-reactionary-centrist-does-uk-have-them