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British Values Test - Ridiculous or Reasonable?


Theresa May is to Introduce "British Values" Test For Overseas Visitors.  According to the Financial Times, the document that outlines these plans states: "We want to make clear to those seeking to visit, work or study in the UK, and those granted protection, that they need to abide by and respect British values throughout their stay in this country . . . We will make British values an integral part of applying for a visa."

But how exactly the Home Office plans to make overseas visitors display their respect for this abstract principle of "British values" is unclear. Will visitors form orderly queues at visa centres, while they wait in turn to recite God Save the Queen? Or will they be given a Q+A format card, styled on the United States' homeland security questions - replacing "are you a member of a terrorist organisation?" with "on a scale of one to ten (one being 'utterly detest' and ten being 'crazy in love'), how would you rate Queen Elizabeth II?" I can imagine terrorists quivering at such a prospect.

 Read more:  Ashley Cowburn, New Statesman, 20/02/2015