I have read the summary of Milliband's plan in the Guardian and am not optimistic. OF course the details , if Labour were to be elected, are important, but it sounds very much like more of the same to me. The language ED Milliband is using is more or less the same language New Labour used between 2001 - 2009 when that party completed its directional shift against multiculturalism and pluralism. A social policy that targets language as the sole driver of social cohesion without addressing income inequality and racism is one that puts all the emphasis on immigrants to integrate because it takes a position that failings in social cohesion are the result of them not learning the language. Milliband talks about a 'common bond' as if it were only language (more specifically the English language) that is preventing this 'common bond'. But its not - the statistics in the UK about earnings inequality are robust over the last fifty years. And these statistics apply across professions and in cases where migrants' English language is not the issue - simply put there is institutional and deeply embedded racism in the UK. If social cohesion is the aim, then simply 'making immigrants learn English' is missing the target.
Of course, the details have not been released, and it could be that there are parallel agendas in the Labour manifesto that will address income inequalityacross the whole of the UK, which I would suggest would be much more effective in addressing social cohesion. There might also be plans to get rid of the Life in the UK test, remove the use of CEFR levels as gatekeepers of citizenship and the plans to support young learners might include a plurilingual approach (such as Finland's) so that young people can progress educationally no matter what language they initially speak. There might also be vastly increased, and stable funding for ESOL teachers. But the continued deprioritization of translation indicates to me that rather than support people from the moment they arrive by properly funding language education with the understanding that language education itself is NOT the 'answer' to the percieved (and largely manufactured) 'problem' of 'social cohesion', the emphasis will continue to be on getting 'them' to 'fit in' from the moment 'they' arrive with the motivation being exactly the opposite of what Ed Milliband claims, namely playing to a bigger political agenda which problematizes 'immigrants' for the benefit of electoral gain.
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