Tuesday, October 30, 2007


Citizenship book becomes best seller

From The Daily Telegraph, London:


A book designed to help immigrants pass the UK citizenship test has become an unlikely publishing phenomenon.
The Home Office's Life in the UK is the bestselling political book of the year, selling more than 80,000 copies and outselling Alastair Campbell's diaries.

Together with a further five manuals on how to pass the test which between them rack up a further 138,000 sales, it accounts for one-third of the total spending on political books in the country.

According to industry publication The Bookseller, the guides to the test, which assesses immigrants' grasp of British culture, politics, customs and society, have fuelled a 16 per cent rise in revenues for the political book sector so far this year.
It follows the revelation last week that record immigration with the expansion of the EU is fuelling the biggest rise in the population for almost 50 years.

Ten years from now, there will be 65 million people in the UK - an increase of five million - and by 2031, the population will be over 70 million, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of immigration pressure group Migration Watch, said the book sales explosion was another "rather unusual" way in which immigration is affecting every corner of our society.

The 24-question multi-choice citizenship exam was introduced by former Home Secretary David Blunkett in 2005 in a bid to quell concerns that new immigrants were failing to adapt and integrate themselves into British life.

The exam includes questions such as "What is the speed limit on single carriageways?" and "How many weeks of paid holiday each year are employees of over 16 normally entitled to?"

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