Almost one million people in England cannot English well or at all, new figures have shown.
Official statistics reveal that 10 per cent of the country’s residents that were born overseas – equivalent to 932,208 people – speak little to no English.
A total of 794,332 people (8.6 per cent) cannot speak English well, while 137,876 people (1.4 per cent) are unable to speak it at all.
Meanwhile, just over half of migrants aged over 16 say it is their main language and 38.4 per cent believe they can speak it well.
Grip on immigration
The figures, obtained by The Sun were collated from data in the 2021 Census and disclosed to the Tories by the UK Statistics Authority last month.
They have prompted Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp to urge Labour to ‘get a grip on immigration’, adding it ‘beggars belief that so many people in the country can’t speak English’.
In mid-2022, England’s population was at 67.6million, and this is expected to rise to 72.5million by mid-2032, according to separate ONS figures.
The level of net migration is estimated to average just under 631,000 this year – which would be lower than the recent eye-watering record of 906,000.
Earlier this week, No10 pushed back at claims the Prime Minister had failed in his pre-election promise to ‘smash’ people-smuggling gangs operating across the Channel.
Sir Keir Starmer’s spokesman said there were ‘no quick fixes’ to illegal migration after Labour inherited an asylum system ‘in chaos’ from the previous Tory government.
Downing Street has previously said Sir Keir wants to bring down ‘staggeringly high levels’ of migration but dismissed Tory calls for a cap, suggesting it would be ‘arbitrary’.
Deportation Scheme
The Tories are also calling on Labour to reinstate the policy of trying to send illegal migrants to Rwanda as a deterrent, which Sir Keir scrapped on his first day in office.
His party’s handling of the Rwanda deportation scheme further descended into farce this week as the east African nation demanded a further £50million from the British taxpayer.
Relations between the two countries turned sour as Kigali accused Lord Collins, the minister for Africa, of making ‘inflammatory and irresponsible’ comments concerning its ongoing conflict with a neighbouring African nation.
He suggested Rwanda was linked with an attack on a church in the Democratic Republic of Congo by Islamic State-related group ADF.
The Rwandan government said it breached the trust between the two countries and as a result it would be seeking £50 million which the UK was ‘legally bound’ to pay, despite the scheme’s cancellation.
A UK Government spokesman disputed the claim, saying diplomatic agreements already signed meant Rwanda had ‘waived any additional payment’.
Cutting immigration is not among Labour’s five ‘missions’: growing the economy, an NHS fit for the future, safer streets, secure power through clean energy and opportunity for all.
However setting a new Border Security Command was one of the six First Steps announced soon after the election.
