To Be A Citizen - To Be An Englishman

We seem to have, in Britain, a fear mentality that those not born within the waters that surround this island, need to prove their worth to be considered “active” citizens. It seems that making the journey here, willing to work any hours for any pay is not enough to make the grade.

It gets more complicated when you realise that such obligations are not required of those from EU states. If from a member country you have the right of abode and access to social services that exist. You may not vote of course in legislative elections at the national level – but you can at the local or European level.

So these British Citizen tests will not be applicable to 450 million people.

According to the BBC news website the package measures include:

• Raising visa fees for a special “transitional impact” fund
• More English language testing ahead of nationality
• Requirements to prove integration into communities
• Increasing how long it takes to become British

With regards the English language test, it would be interesting to see how many indigenous people would pass the test. In particular imagine that someone that barely managed a pass at English GCSE would go on to fail the language test, but was born in this country and had citizenship at birth. Presumably we shall cast such a person out, in the manner of a Spartan of old to strengthen the nation.

The back drop to all this is the fact that the Home Office has no idea how many legal immigrants are in the country – let alone how many illegally are here. The relative ease of citizenship, based primarily on length of residence used, is apparently less compared to the rest of Europe. The plan is that will change.

Mr Brown said the UK had to be “far more explicit about the ties – indeed the shared values – that make us more than a collection of people but a country”.

Earned citizenship would include “clear rights but also stronger obligations at each stage”.

Mr Brown added: “And we will emphasise what binds us – showing that our tolerance and fairness are not to be taken advantage of – without diminishing the diversity of what we hold dear.”

The question is what does this mean in practise? Would this mean respecting British law and customs in a way that the Archbishop believes is too burdensome on some? What obligations are expected on the would be citizen, and are these actually more than would be required of one born as one? Will we exclude those that do not accept that sexual orientation, religion, race and ethnicity are unacceptable means to discriminate against people?

That to my mind is the question that perplexes me. I am not for the outsider-insider perspective. If someone body wants to live in this country, work hard and live within the law then I have no objection to them being here whatsoever. If they then want to become a citizen after a certain time having done these things then let them be a citizen. Giving hoops to jump through designed to appease my fellow xenophobic Brits is not on.

Who we are in terms of country of origin and residency is a political distinction. It has been used to create divisions between people, and can be regional as well as national in how people make themselves distinctive or in how they are treated. Justice as fairness because we are human is not a universally recognised principle. Political ideas of citizenship, religion, race, culture all play their part to divide us from our common ancestry and humanity.

Adam Smith once mentioned that all moral people would give up their little finger if that sacrifice would save the population of China from certain death (Theory of Moral Sentiment). Even Steven Spielberg may do that though not helping China in the Olympics having discovered that China has a rather immoral foreign policy – who would have known that till now ….

To be a citizen requires showing a demonstrable commitment, and it should be a more exacting one according to the Prime Minister. Those of British parents that had the experience of being born out out of such recognised mammals have these rights as if born to them.

But apparently those that travel many great distances, suffering much in their homelands and hardship on the journey here will have to prove they have the right stuff. That they want a better life and are willing to work hard for it will not be enough. They will require further testing to suffice the concerns of Her Majesty’s Government (note if taking Citizen test – it is the Britannic Majesty’s and not the people’s – officially).

If the test includes such things that bind us as Eastenders and Coronation Street (popular soaps on TV) then I would fair miserably. If asked to name the English football team I may manage three. Asked to sing the national anthem I would say that I find it a horrible retched piece that suggests that we exist to service a god appointed but naturally conceived for the job head of state; I would offer to sing “Irish blood, English Heart” instead. Or if a love of Morrissey did not prove my “activeness” maybe singing “Jerusalem” with gusto may prove that though an atheist republican I do believe in the people in this country coming together and making a better place for us all.

Having fees imposed on some, but not others, in order to allow people to have the rights that others have by birth in the EU seems to me to go against a concept of justice and fair play that I remember being taught at school. It also seems to be going against supporting the under dog, which at home I was taught was quintessentially a British trait whether it was gallant little Belgium or supporting the New York Giants at the Superbowl.

In short the measures fail the British test – rather than going for some headlines, lets come up with something that will really encourage people to come here and add to society but will treat them fairly when they do.

Till then I now have Gilbert and Sullivan’s For He Is An Englishman that my father sang at amateur operatics stuck in my head, and which I leave you with now:

ALL.
He is an Englishman!
BOAT.
He is an Englishman!
For he himself has said it,
And it’s greatly to his credit,
That he is an Englishman!
ALL.
That he is an Englishman!
BOAT.
For he might have been a Roosian,
A French, or Turk, or Proosian,
Or perhaps Itali-an!
ALL.
Or perhaps Itali-an!
BOAT.
But in spite of all temptations
To belong to other nations,
He remains an Englishman!
He remains an Englishman!
ALL.
For in spite of all temptations
To belong to other nations,
He remains an Englishman!
He remains an Englishman!

[For regular readers I am now onto Season Three of The West Wing.]

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