Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Damian Hinds and Luciana Berger

Monday 29th January 2018 Commons Chamber

[Damian Hinds]

That is very fortunate, Mr Speaker, as I do not quite know where to go after that. My hon. Friend makes a very good and interesting point about the value of languages.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (Lab/Co-op)]

We were all suitably impressed when Emmanuel Macron spoke flawless English in his candid interview with Andrew Marr the other week. That is no surprise given that 80% of children in EU member states start learning a second language in primary school. What is the Secretary of State going to do to ensure that children in the UK do not fall behind their European counterparts?

[Damian Hinds]

It starts with an international outlook and learning about other countries. Of course, it is also about encouraging more teachers to go into teaching modern foreign languages, and we are working hard on that.