Originally Posted by
Roger
To accompany the other thread from a journalist's blog, here's another blog about a Swiss national becoming British by naturalisation, surprisingly rant-free IMO.
...funniest thing I've ever read about that test is this:
Life in the UK includes a 25-page, 11,000-word introduction to British history written by the late professor Sir Bernard Crick. He defended it from criticism from the Historical Association that it was "a bizarre tour of British history" by saying it was written for immigrants and their language teachers and was not an official history.
Crick also revealed in 2006 that he resisted pressure from the then home secretary, David Blunkett, to include history questions in the test: "I refused, both in principle and on grounds of practicality: could any test for immigrants be devised that 80% of our fellow citizens would not fail?" he said.
Maybe all UK school-leavers should all sit the test? To check its fairness?
