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So of course, at the same day Dutch public television airs a tearjerking report about Somalian refugees that fled the Netherlands to go and live in Leicester where they can be themselves (i.e. by not learning the local language), unlike in nasty and intolerant Holland, Blair's about-to-be-successor makes this statement (or will), which of course goes unreported on Dutch PBS:
"The English language, he will say, should be made an essential element of citizenship, through mandatory language courses for jobseekers found wanting."
I'm wondering if the Somalian family will now flee British tyranny back to the Netherlands, where there's an entire village working for PBS that should be happy to make them feel right at home, whatever it takes.
Anyway, enough jesting.
Unlike most Dutch, I don't feel it should be obligatory to learn our language. Hey, it's a free country. I do feel, however, that if you refuse to do so (note: being unable to is a different matter), you should not be entitled to welfare or other support by the state, as such a refusal seriously diminishes your chances of being able to provide for yourself since most employers will need - or at least prefer - an employee that speaks the lingua franca. If you can get by without learning Dutch, fine. If you can't, don't expect the natives, whose language you want no part of, to pay your way.
Brown goes on to make some excellent points about appreciating national identity, a theme which has become somewhat contaminated in Europe ever since a few idiots in Italy and Germany made a big mess out of things. I've argued before that you can't expect immigrants to appreciate their host country if they're not even sure what that country is supposed to stand for, and if citizenship ceremonies have all the flair and excitement of a fishing licence being issued. There's no need to haul out the brown shirts, I hope, to appreciate that version of nationalism. And at the very least, Brown doesn't seem to think so.
In his speech Mr Brown will embrace the patriotism of the US, saying: "In any survey our most popular institutions range from the monarchy to the army to the NHS. But think: what is our Fourth of July? What is our Independence Day? Where is our declaration of rights? What is our equivalent of a flag in every garden? Perhaps Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday are the nearest we have come to a British day - unifying, commemorative, dignified and an expression of British ideas of standing firm for the world in the name of liberty."
The Dutch have one advantage over the Brits, fortunately (other than having beaten them in nearly all naval engagements, but let bygones be bygones). At least we've won our independence, unlike the Brits, which we annually celebrate by sending a large percentage of our population to the Spanish costas to harass the locals. Serves them right for having occupied us.
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