Britain’s dwindling language skills are a disaster for the country and needs action, MPs warn

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Britain’s dwindling language skills are a “disaster” for the country and they need to be recovered through urgent government action, a group of MPs and peers warn. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages has set out its National Recovery Programme to revolutionise language skills across the country. “As a country looking to redefine its role on the international stage and be a leader in trade and diplomacy, we need language skills to become the norm, not the exception.” She added: “We call on the government to provide the strategic leadership, and on stakeholders to act to revolutionise language skills in the UK.” Last week, the BBC revealed that foreign language learning is at its lowest level in UK secondary schools since the turn of the millennium, with German and French falling the most. “It is important for the future of the UK that we have more young people with language skills who are better equipped to work in a global economy and live in a global society.” Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events Nick Gibb, school standards minister, said: “Ensuring more young people learn a foreign language helps to broaden their horizons and ambitions as well as ensuring this country remains an outward-looking global nation.