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 Migrants who fail language tests after two and a half years in the UK may be forced to leave, David Cameron has said, as he announced plans to encourage greater integration of Muslim women. 
 
 When asked whether a Muslim woman who had come to the UK on a spousal visa and had children without learning the language herself could be denied leave to remain, the prime minister said there would be no guarantee that those who did not improve their English could stay. 
 
 He outlined the plan in an interview with the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, claiming there were 38,000 Muslim women who could not speak English and 190,000 with limited skills in the language. 
 
 Cameron said not just Muslim women, but all those who entered the UK on the five-year spousal settlement programme would soon have to sit language tests halfway through that period. 
 
 “After two and half years they should be improving their English and we will be testing them,” the prime minister said. “We will bring this in in October and it will apply to people who have come in on a spousal visa recently and they will be tested.” 
 
 Cameron stressed that he was not blaming those who could not speak English because “some of these people have come from quite patriarchal societies and perhaps the menfolk haven’t wanted them to speak English”. 
 
 But when questioned about whether they would be asked to leave the country if they failed to start learning the language, he said that was possible as “people coming to our country have responsibilities too”. 
 
 “They can’t guarantee they will be able to stay, because under our rules you have to be able to speak a basic level of English to come into the country as a husband or wife. We made that change already, and we are now going to toughen that up, so halfway through the five-year spousal settlement there will be another opportunity to make sure your English is improving. You can’t guarantee you can stay if you are not improving your language.” 
 
 Cameron defended his plan to launch a £20m language fund to help Muslim women unable to speak English. He had overseen cuts to funding for language lessons for immigrants. 
 
 Earlier, he called for an end to the “passive tolerance” of separate communities, which left many Muslim women facing discrimination and social isolation. 
 
 The prime minister said he would not avoid telling the “hard truths” required to confront the minority of Muslim men whose “backward attitudes” led them to exert “damaging control” over women in their families. 
 
 “All too often, because of what I would call ‘passive tolerance’, people subscribe to the flawed idea of separate development,” he wrote in the Times. “It is time to change our approach. We will never truly build One Nation unless we are more assertive about our liberal values, more clear about the expectations we place on those who come to live here and build our country together, and are more creative and generous in the work we do to break down barriers.” 
 
 The new English language scheme would try to reach the most isolated women, targeting specific communities based on the ongoing review into segregation being carried out by Louise Casey, the head of the government’s troubled families unit. 
 
 Classes would be held in homes, schools and community centres, with travel and childcare costs provided to encourage participation. 
 
 Cameron said all public services, including nurseries, schools, health visiting and job centres, needed to play a part in tackling “prejudice and bigotry” and building integration. 
 
 The announcement of £20m for English classes was welcomed by Shaista Gohir, chair of the Muslim Women’s Network, but she said “it should be directed at all communities, not just Muslims – and it shouldn’t be linked to radicalisation. People learning English is a good thing, so they know their rights and can participate in society. Cameron says he wants to empower Muslim women. But what about Muslim women who already speak English and still face barriers to participation?” 
 
 Muslim women, she said, were often marginalised by men in their own communities, in mosques and local politics. “Women with skills and abilities are often overlooked; very few women have broken barriers. That’s the real problem that’s not being tackled. We need to break up the Muslim old boys network that keeps us sidelined.” 
 
 Cameron’s position criticised 
 
 Dr Ed Kessler, director of the Woolf Institute, which convened the recent Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life, criticised Cameron’s focus on Muslim women. 
 
 “It is extremely unfortunate that the prime minister has chosen to focus solely on Muslim women to make an important point about the integration of immigrants,” he said. 
 
 
 
 “The commission explicitly called on the government to use sensitive and inclusive language when dealing with matters of faith, yet once again points that apply equally to immigrants from a wide variety of nationalities, backgrounds and religions – Iraqi Christians for example – have been used to associate all Muslims with difficulties associated with integration. As a result, rather than empowering women, the Muslim communities can be further alienated, making it harder rather than easier for Muslim women to seek help from public authorities.” 
 
 
 
 Sufia Alam, the women’s project manager of the east London Maryam centre, pointed out a wide discrepancy between Cameron’s suggestion that 22% of Muslim women have limited or no English, and the 2011 census, which said that just 6% struggled significantly with the language. There had been deep cuts in English teaching provision for non-native speakers in the last parliament, she added. 
 
 “My issue is that community facilities – especially those aimed at women – have faced significant cuts,” she said. 
 
 Siema Iqbal, a Manchester GP, said she agreed that people coming to live in the UK need to learn English in order to improve their opportunities and interaction with others. “But the problem is [Cameron] is conflating not being able to speak English with contributing to radicalisation,” she said. “A mother’s ability to moderate her children isn’t dependent on her speaking English. I know many Asian women who can’t speak English but still influence their children – and push them to integrate into British society.” 
 
 Cameron is also “confusing submissiveness with being respectful. There is quite a distinction,” Iqbal added. “He obviously hasn’t met your average Asian woman who can’t speak English – they are not meek. 
 
 “Meek women exist on every spectrum, not just among Muslim women. But when it comes to Muslim women, it’s seen as a negative. There may many sectors where women need to become more empowered, not just Muslim women.” 
 
 A spokesperson for the community organisation Muslim Engagement and Development (Mend) said: “Being able to speak English is vital to economic, social and political integration, but the prime minister is making wild allegations about misogyny in Muslim communities and conflating this with issues of integration. This is not helpful; we need positive interventions not misplaced, tendentious rhetoric. 
 
 “When has Cameron acted to address workplace discrimination and the exclusion of minorities from the political sphere? It has become all too common in recent years for the government to point the finger of blame on Muslims and tell them to do more. It’s time the government took a long hard long look at its failings on integration – economic, social and political – and started offering solutions.” ||||| Muslim women can be banned from wearing veils in schools, courts and other British institutions, David Cameron has said. 
 
 The Prime Minister said that he will give his backing to public authorities that put in place “proper and sensible” rules to ban women from wearing face veils in comments which will reignite debates. 
 
 It comes as the Government prepare to announce a series of measures designed to stop British Muslims becoming radicalised and traveling to the Middle East to join terrorist groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil). 
 
 As part of the plans, ministers will pledge to outlaw gender segregation during meetings in public buildings amid concerns that some Muslim organisations are forcing women to sit separately. 
 
 Nicky Morgan, the Education Secretary, will also on Tuesday announce plans to force schools to help stop teenagers travelling abroad to fight alongside jihadist groups such as Isil. 
 
 Schools will be required to inform councils when pupils stop attending without any explanation and Muslim parents will be encouraged to carry out checks to ensure their children are not being radicalised. 
 
 Mr Cameron has also announced that tens of thousands of Muslim women will face deportation unless they pass a series of English language tests after coming to Britain on spouse visas. 
 
 The Prime Minister’s comments about veils will reignite the row over whether British institutions should be able to stop women covering their faces for religious reasons in public places. 
 
 He refused to endorse a French-style blanket ban but made clear that individual organisations can choose to stop Muslim women wearing the veil. 
 
 The Daily Telegraph in 2013 disclosed that more than a dozen NHS hospitals had instructed staff not to wear the niqab — a full veil which covers the face — while in contact with patients. 
 
 The same year, a London judge ordered a Muslim defendant to remove her veil, but asked politicians for clearer instructions on veils in court. 
 
 A number of Conservative MPs want the Government to consider a full ban on the veil. 
 
 “I think in our country people should be free to wear what they like, within limits live how they like, and all the rest of it,” Mr Cameron told BBC Radio 4. 
 
 “What does matter is if, for instance, a school has a uniform policy, sensitively put in place and all the rest of it, and people want to flout that uniform policy, often for reasons that aren't connected to religion, you should always come down on the side of the school.” 
 
 Mr Cameron added: “When you are coming into contact with an institution or you're in court, or if you need to be able to see someone's face at the border, then I will always back the authority and institution that have put in place proper and sensible rules. 
 
 “Going for the more sort of French approach of banning an item of clothing, I don't think that's the way we do things in this country and I don't think that would help.” 
 
 France in 2010 banned full-face veils after years of debate. 
 
 Philip Hollobone, a Conservative MP, said: "What the Prime Minister says is extremely welcome and a step in the right direction but given the stridency with which Muslim group's advance their cause sooner or later this will be put to the test. 
 
 "It should apply to any public official including schools, hospitals, councils, the police, border force, hospitals, GP surgeries. Anywhere where members of the public come into contact and an official needs to have his or her face visible.” 
 
 He added: “I don't want to live in a country where a police officer is veiled, where a news reader is veiled, where a nurse or doctor is veiled." 
 
 The Telegraph also understands that ministers are drawing up guidance which will ban gender segregation in public meetings held in buildings owned by town halls. 
 
 It follows concerns that Muslim men and women were separated in a series of meetings in the run up to the election. 
 
 Mrs Morgan will on Tuesday give a speech at the Bethnal Green Academy, east London, which came to public attention in 2015 when four of its pupils fled to Syria to become “jihadi brides”. 
 
 She will announce a new website to help parents and teachers identify potential victims of radicalisation. 
 
 The website warns parents and teachers about “excessive time spent online or on mobile phones” as well as being wary of children with a “susceptibility to conspiracy theories and a feeling of persecution”. 
 
 She will also announce plans to ensure that schools register with local authorities any pupils that stop attending lessons. 
 
 Mrs Morgan will say: “We are determined to keep children safe in and out of school. Today’s announcement of resources and tougher powers to protect young, impressionable minds from radical views sends a clear message to extremists: our children are firmly out of your reach.” 
 
 Mr Cameron announced on Monday that immigrants will have to show that they have improved their English after two-and-a-half years or face being deported. 
 
 Under the plans tens of thousands of migrants who come to Britain on a "spouse visa" to join their husband or wife will have to pass an additional English language test after two years. 
 
 While Andy Burnham, the shadow home secretary, accused Mr Cameron of "stigmatising a whole community", Naz Shah, the Muslim Labour MP for Bradford West backed his call for more women to learn English. ||||| Image copyright AFP 
 
 A £20m fund to teach Muslim women in the UK to speak English will tackle segregation and help them resist the lure of extremism, David Cameron says. 
 
 While there was no "causal connection" between poor English and extremism, language lessons would make communities "more resilient", Mr Cameron said. 
 
 But some Muslims have accused him of wrongly "conflating" the two issues. 
 
 The PM also suggested failing to learn English could affect people on spousal visas who wanted to settle in the UK. 
 
 The government says 22% of Muslim women living in England speak little or no English - a factor it argues is contributing to their isolation. 
 
 Segregation, the prime minister says, is allowing "appalling practices" such as female genital mutilation and forced marriage to exist, and increasing vulnerability to recruitment by so-called Islamic State - also known as Daesh. 
 
 He is also announcing a review of the role of Britain's religious councils, including Sharia courts, in an effort to confront men who exert "damaging control over their wives, sisters and daughters". 
 
 'More susceptible' 
 
 Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Mr Cameron said the push on language was "about building a more integrated, cohesive, one nation country where there's genuine opportunity for people". 
 
 He said some "menfolk" in Muslim communities were fostering segregation by preventing women from learning English or leaving home alone, and that could not be allowed to continue. 
 
 There is "a connection with combating extremism" too, he argued, and improving English was important "to help people become more resilient against the messages of Daesh". 
 
 "I'm not saying there's some sort of causal connection between not speaking English and becoming an extremist - of course not, that would be a ridiculous thing to say," he continued. 
 
 "But if you're not able to speak English, you're not able to integrate, you may find, therefore, that you have challenges understanding what your identity is and you could be more susceptible to the extremist message that comes from Daesh." 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Humera Khan, who founded a group for Muslim women, says Mr Cameron is "confusing issues". 
 
 New rules will mean that from October, people coming to the UK on a five-year spousal visa will have to take a test after two and a half years to show they are making efforts to improve their English. 
 
 Asked what would happen to those who failed, Mr Cameron told Today: "They can't guarantee that they'll be able to stay. 
 
 "It is tough. But in the end it is not enough just to say the government is going to spend more money and it is our responsibility. People coming to our country, they have responsibilities too." 
 
 The BBC's political correspondent Alex Forsyth said the government was absolutely not suggesting people could be deported if they failed to reach the required level, but that language skills would be one factor taken into account when deciding whether to extend a person's right to remain. 
 
 Dal Babu, a former chief superintendent with the Metropolitan Police who now works with families whose children have gone to fight with IS, told Today the investment in language lessons was welcome. 
 
 But he added: "My concern is how we have conflated the issue of learning English with stopping radicalism and extremism... to conflate the two is unhelpful." 
 
 Mr Babu also said he did not recognise the figure of 22% as the proportion of Muslim women without good English - instead quoting a figure of 6%, cited by racial equality think tank the Runnymede Trust. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Cameron on push for integration of Muslim women 
 
 Dr Sundas Ali, a lecturer at Oxford University who researches Muslims in Britain, said language might be a barrier for some women, but there were much bigger factors. 
 
 "I think there's an overall cultural problem in a lot of the Muslim community which is of low expectations. I think Muslim women are not encouraged as much as non-Muslim women to excel in their education and their careers." 
 
 She added: "Overall, I see what he [David Cameron] is trying to do and I do appreciate that, but I think there are other issues affecting Muslim women which he should have mentioned, such as hate crimes." 
 
 The Muslim Council of Britain welcomed the plans for language tuition but said it was wrong to single out Muslim women as other minorities "also struggle with English". 
 
 MCB secretary general Shuja Shafi also questioned whether linking the issue of extremism to the announcement was valid. 
 
 The language lessons will be targeted at "specific communities" identified by a review into segregation that is being conducted by Louise Casey, head of the government's "troubled families" unit. 
 
 They will take place in homes, schools and community facilities, with travel and childcare costs - described as "some of the greatest barriers to participation" - being covered. An existing scheme is said to have helped more than 30,000 adults. 
 
 The PM acknowledged cuts had been made to free language classes for immigrants during the last Parliament, but said the new £20m fund was "more targeted".
– If migrants—for example, Muslim women on spousal visas—haven't learned at least some English within two-and-a-half years of moving to the UK, they could face deportation, the Guardian reports. It's part of a plan backed by prime minister David Cameron, who says the segregation and isolation of Britain's Muslim communities invites things like forced marriage, genital mutilation, and radicalization, according to the BBC. "If you're not able to speak English, you're not able to integrate," he says. "You may find, therefore, that you have challenges understanding what your identity is and you could be more susceptible to the extremist message that comes from [ISIS]." Cameron says there are 38,000 Muslim women in the UK who can't speak English and another 190,000 with limited English, according to the Guardian. In addition to language tests, the government is also considering banning face veils in certain places, such as schools and courts, and banning gender segregation in Muslim meetings, the Telegraph reports. "People coming to our country have responsibilities too," the Guardian quotes Cameron. According to the BBC, critics of the plan say there are bigger issues affecting Muslim women, that connecting language skills and radicalization isn't helpful, and that it's wrong to focus on Muslims instead of all migrants. Cameron says he'll be putting more than $28 million toward a program to teach Muslim women English, and that starting in October, people entering the UK on five-year spousal visas will be tested on their English skills after two and a half years. If they're not improving, they may not be allowed to stay.