Popularity of the Spanish language in Yorkshire highlights why we need freedom of movement - Yorkshire Post Letters

A study by language teaching company Rosetta Stone showing that Spanish is the most popular choice for Yorkshire people has been widely reported and certainly confirms trends shown by school exam entries at GCSE and ‘A’ level.

The company’s Jason Brickey describes the number of people using newer technologies to learn a foreign language as ‘inspiring.’ He goes on to say that this is even more the case ‘when culture and connection are at the heart of the experience’ with being able to speak another language both ‘opening doors and strengthening experiences’.

Yet for many of our better teenage linguists, Brexit closed doors that had been open for 30 years as the isolationist Tories and their Labour allies rushed to end the very freedom of movement that had made immersive language learning possible.

There is no substitute for spending extended time working in places where the language studied is spoken in order to acquire fluency. Reciprocal freedom of movement provided life enhancing social, cultural, sporting, romantic and economic opportunities in addition to linguistic. It’s time it was brought back.

There’s apparently popular support for a youth mobility scheme. Yet the government dithers. We had the best scheme. It was called freedom of movement. It should be restored, albeit with caveats about dependents and claiming of benefits. Labour needs to get some backbone and stop pandering to the minority of elderly and lesser educated voters who are uncomfortable with Polish in the park or Bulgarian on the bus.

I hope to see a common programme at the next election in which all progressive centre and left of centre parties jointly campaign for return to the EU in stages. The UK would then be less exposed to the electoral vagaries of voters in Iowa. Restoring freedom of movement is a pleasing prerequisite.