Vocal Voices

The action of combining things to form a whole, or the mixing of people or groups who were previously segregated

That's how the Oxford dictionary describes it.

The news today about the problems that still exist in certain Birmingham schools following the Trojan Horse business last year, got me thinking of what would be the best way of achieving true integration. Should it be a condition of admittance to our country that the people concerned adopt our customs and way of life within a certain period of time, otherwise they would be expected to return to where they came from. Or should it be a two-way thing, and should we be expected to partly embrace some of their customs and beliefs?

What do you think?

I see Mrs May says we won`t have any of the Mediterranean migrants... so we can expect them any time soon.

An interesting question, Aggers.

For me the first thing to do is a round up of all the illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers and those migrants operating in the black economy, then ship them out.

As for your question. The answer to the first part is: Yes. Anyone wishing to come here to live should be able to communicate in written and spoken English and to pass a test within one year. I am not talking about a GCSE at some grade, but a simple proficiency test. They should have to attend classes in UK History so as to be informed how our culture has evolved and also Geography - Geology and Topology - to see how it has also determined our culture. For the second part the two-way thing should be 4:1 in our favour. It would be impossible, and unfair, to expect them to give up their culture and cultural practices as well as their religion, but they must understand that they have to fit in with how we operate and not the other way around.