A 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".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."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.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 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".