LONDON: Britain's prime minister-in-waiting Gordon Brown said immigrants seeking citizenship of the country should participate in community work before they aspire to become citizens.
The chancellor of the exchequer said citizenship should go with rights as well as responsibilities and it should be a contract. It is necessary that those who want to become British citizens should demonstrate that they are ready to contribute to their new home, he told a seminar on Britishness at the Commonwealth club in London Tuesday. He added such a method will help foster a "stronger sense of national purpose" among the immigrants wanting to make Britain their home.
Brown also said the requirement of community work should go with the requirement of the immigrants learning English and acquiring a fair knowledge about British history and culture.
Brown, however, did not give any details of the plans he professed, including funding.
However, he gave an outline, saying, "Being a British citizen is about more than a test, more than a ceremony; it's a kind of contract between the citizen and the country involving rights but also involving responsibilities that will protect and enhance the British way of life. Citizenship means there are common rules and accepted standards. There is now agreement with the proposition I made some time ago that for new citizens, learning English should be a requirement. New citizens should have an understanding of our history and our culture.
"But in any national debate on the future of citizenship, it is right to consider asking men and women seeking citizenship to undertake community work in our country – or something akin to that – that introduces them to a wider range of institutions and people."
Brown's plans appeared to be not original. Prof Sir Bernard Crick, former head of the government's advisory panel on immigration and naturalization, revealed Tuesday Brown had blocked the same idea in 2003. He told a BBC program the panel had suggested that there should be either citizenship classes or a voluntary work requirement. But the suggestion was shot down by the treasury and the home office quoting high costs involved in implementing it. He said he is glad that the suggestion is getting revived.
Brown's suggestions drew criticism from the Conservatives and an organization working for the welfare of immigrants.
Shadow home secretary David Davis described the proposal as ill thought out, which would amount to forcing some professionals who had been in Britain for years to stop working for a period to carry out community service.
Habib Rahman, a spokesperson of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said compulsory community service is usually imposed as a non-custodial penalty for a criminal offence. "We are therefore extremely concerned that it is now being proposed as a condition of citizenship," he added.
