Immigrants told to queue to fit into Britain

Immigrants told to adopt British social norms

Monday, 04, Feb 2008 12:00

New immigrants to Britain will be taught the importance of queuing, along with other British idiosyncrasies.

As part of a bid to improve community cohesion, the government today unveiled plans for information packs to introduce immigrants to key aspects of British life.

Along with information on laws and taxes, English language classes and employment rights, these will include background information on so-called "social norms".

Advice for immigrants is set to include warnings not to spit in public, the importance of queuing in shops, what days to put out rubbish and the need for a fishing license.

Communities secretary Hazel Blears said: "The overwhelming majority of people in this country live successfully side by side but we cannot take this for granted.

"We have to keep our eye on the ball and continue taking the steps to address issues head on in order that we will be well placed to respond to the issues associated with population change and globalisation."

Under community cohesions set out today, Ms Blears also said local authorities should move away from funding projects that do not encourage groups to integrate, such as youth clubs for specific communities.

She called for a "fundamental rebalancing" of how funding is allocated, stressing groups will be prioritised if they encourage integration.

Ms Blears also promised more support from central government, with local authorities complaining funding and support does not reflect local population changes.

Specialist cohesion teams will now be sent into local authorities, especially those witnessing significant immigration for the first time, to advise them on how to manage local cohesion.

Today's recommendations follow a ten-month review by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion.