Cameron - friend of Muslim women?

Of course, had St Jeremy suggested it.......?

The government strategy of 'sowing seeds' of doubt to destabilise public confidence in various situations that are, imo, actually OK and then announce a bit of money to 'fix' something that was not really broken, then publish 'data' to show improvements is simply political manipulation.

Sledgehammer/nut etc = votes!

Hmm...except that there's another four years to go until the next general election. I doubt whether this initiative will be remembered then, unless of course it's a spectacular success.

Elegran, thank you for understanding I was not being racist. I was just explaining thst dismissing a persons mother tongue is very hurtful and uncalled for.

I would ask, if people are speaking in a language not understood by others how can it be said the listeners were being talked about.

Do you stop speaking in English if someone standing next to you doesn't speak English ? We are criticised if we do not stop a conversation in Welsh.

Why is it rude to speak Welsh in Wales if some cannot yet not rude to speak english in England it some cannot understand it ?

Can you not see how unjust it is to criticise others for things we do ourselves ?

Not back to Wales again!

You may have missed my earlier post roses. I do think that people moving to a new country should integrate, and that includes learning the host language and the host country can support this by making newcomers feel warmly welcomed and not treat them as a bloody nuisance..which is what many newcomers experience! Hard to integrate with a community that does not want you.

Well said Penstemmon

Since I don't know DC personally I don't know if he's a caring and supportive chap in the sense that I think you mean, pen, nor do I care because I don't think it's relevant here. What he has shown by this gesture of money for language lessons for people who are at least somewhat isolated by their lack of knowledge of the language of the country they live in (and they are; it is isolating not to be able to speak the language of the country where you live; been there, done that), what he has shown is that he cares about his country and how it and its people 'gel'. A common language is important. That's all there is to it. I think he's right to try and improve the commonality of the language.

Even someone who does not vote Conservative and who doesn't particularly like DC should be able to see the rationale behind what he has done even, again, if they don't think it's a good idea. One can appreciate the good intentions of someone even if one thinks they are misguided. What harm can this project do? and if it's not actually harmful, why complain except to be petty-mindedly partisan?

Ana I was talking more generically but this 'let's teach these old women English, here is a £100 per head to do so' is a good example of the strategy.

The marjority of Welsh people can speak English as well as Welsh (if indeed they speak Welsh at all). The comparison with immigrants who have no knowledge of English at all doesn't hold up.

I think the majority of Welsh people cannot speak Welsh. Similarly, the majority of Scots cannot speak Gaelic.

thatbags, I have not criticised him putting up money for englidh lessons, I think he should have said he had been wrong to cut it some time ago.

He should not have made it anti Muslim,, why not we are putting up the money to help women who cannot speak English to have English lessons which will make it easier for them to be more independent regarding day to day living in this country

Does being part of a "minority" bestow on an individual the right to make a sweeping generalisation about the majority, on the basis that they have been on the receiving end of a some rude remarks from a handful of the majority, but unknown to the GN member who is part of a minority, she could possibly have been insulted by a person not entirely English which would make them also a minority. TBH, I think it's very easy to label oneself a minority, my heritage is only part English so I could say I'm a minority. As wordsmith John Prescott might say "we're all a minority now"

With regard to my last but one post, we have a Conservative government till 2020. I don't see the point of whining about everything they do. Complain about the damaging stuff, sure, but this...?

People are weird.

Why is it rude to speak Welsh in Wales if some cannot yet not rude to speak english in England it some cannot understand it ?

Not back to Wales again! There is always a welcome in the hillside

No it's not at all rude - unless, of course, people are chuntering away in Welsh criticising strangers who have come into a pub or shop, assuming they are English because one or two of the people they are with are English.
Quite funny when a member of the party can answer the chunterers in Welsh and tell them how much he enjoyed their conversation!

How is helping Muslims to speak English in Britain anti-muslim, exactly? Rhetorical question.

thatbags, the wannabe I am desperate be moderator doesn't want Wales mentioned

I think the majority of Welsh people cannot speak Welsh.

They all will in the future

It's always been my opinion that the left wing intellectuals don't want the poor and uneducated to 'rise obove their station'
Look at the way the last labour government kept throwing benifit payments at the poor and unemployed. That didn't help them, it just kept them in their place, and keep voting labour. Part of Blairs policy when he opened the floodgates in 2002. But he got it wrong, most immigrants ( from Eastern Europe) have aspirations above that.

Nope, I read all the posts.So,people should integrate and learn English, but what then? This country has made a lot of immigrants welcome for the past
Hundred years or so, and mostly, they have learned the language and tried to fit in, while keeping some of their own culture and language ( all well and good) but has been said over and over on here, and in RL you cannot do that if kept more or less in the house and subjugated generally as some Muslim women in the UK certainly are.How to target these women for English lessons will be difficult, but setting aside money to provide for that aim Is only to be applauded.Anyone who thinks differently to that I find genuinely baffling.
I don't agree with your view of the reason the money was offered Penstemon simply because it is not a 'people pleaser', a lot of people won't give two hoots if they have lessons or not.

anniebach somehow you manage to make every other thread all about you, or all about you and Wales.

If we can mention Wales, can I just say that it can be very difficult for children whose first language is not English to come to Wales and have to learn both Welsh and English.

I know this because a friend is a reception class teacher in Wales (Welsh is her first language) and she has a lot of children from other countries in her class who have to learn both languages.

Oh some are on the defensive

thatbags I, like other GNers, have run classes, support groups etc etc taught English 1-1 to adult Muslim women over the years, including members of my family, starting in the early 70s. I am all for women learning English and I have seen how empowering it has been.

According to the report I heard the amount of money identified for this project equates to £100 per person identified as not speaking good enough English. It is a token gesture

What makes me angry is not that it is not a good thing to support women to learn English and open opportunities for them but that this has only happened for calculated political capital. It is also shrouded in a wider agenda about terrorism and deportation which I feel makes the gesture even more disingenuous. If resources had been focussed on properly supporting newcomers to the UK years ago and policies put in place to really support integration we may not be in the unhappy situation we are now.

We must have other Welsh Gnetters, but they don't all do this 'chip on the shoulder ' thing all the time.