New Statesman -- citizenship test -- November 1 deadline
 

No 4250
Set by John O’Byrne
David Cameron, on the “Late Show with David Letterman”, failed a mock citizenship test. The PM did not know the English for “Magna Carta” or recall who was the composer of “Rule Britannia”. We want some more citizenship test questions along with awkward guesses/answers from other political figures. You may send in one long answer to one question or short answers to a maximum of ten questions.
Max 150 words by 1 November comp@newstatesman.co.uk

Ho hum ...

It would be hard to come up with anything sillier than the actual questions. I took the test 5 years ago, and my favorite was 'T/F: The Queen can execute people.'

As an experiment, I've just taken the practice Citizenship test, albeit without reading the Handbook or Guidelines.

I failed it. What relevance is there, I wonder, in knowing the year (out of a selection of dates in the 1800s) that women gained the right to divorce their husbands?

Some of the women entering the UK from elsewhere might be glad to know they can get a divorce here but, as in the case of that sample question, is "1857" really the kind of important knowledge anyone needs?

Mary's got it right: "It would be hard to come up with anything sillier than the actual questions."

Jayne

As Boris Johnson pointed out, Cameron would certainly know the English for Magna Carta, having studied Latin at Eton. However, he wouldn't want to be seen as a know-all.