Equalities guru Trevor Phillips has called on employers to bear the cost of migrant workers' English classes.
Forty years on from the notorious Enoch Powell speech that slated the then government's immigration policy, the head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has said he believed "it is right" that migrants have access to free English lessons when they come to the UK to work.
Speaking to mark the 40th anniversary of Powell's 1968 'Rivers of Blood' speech, Phillips questioned to what extent employers, migrants and settled communities should share the costs of increased immigration.
"The government has recently acknowledged this by suggesting that while English lessons might be made free for those who intend to settle here, it is right that those who come just to work – the 'easymigrant' – and their employers should bear the cost of their English classes. I believe that this is right."
Read more: T. Phillips
Forty years on from the notorious Enoch Powell speech that slated the then government's immigration policy, the head of the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has said he believed "it is right" that migrants have access to free English lessons when they come to the UK to work.
Speaking to mark the 40th anniversary of Powell's 1968 'Rivers of Blood' speech, Phillips questioned to what extent employers, migrants and settled communities should share the costs of increased immigration.
"The government has recently acknowledged this by suggesting that while English lessons might be made free for those who intend to settle here, it is right that those who come just to work – the 'easymigrant' – and their employers should bear the cost of their English classes. I believe that this is right."
Read more: T. Phillips