Last week David Cameron set out plans to deport foreign nationals on spousal visas who fail English language tests after two and half years of living in the UK.

Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Cameron focused specifically on Muslim women living in Britain, claiming that there were “38,000 Muslim women who speak hardly any English at all and perhaps as many as 190,000 who speak it very badly”.  As a result, he has committed his government to a £20 million English language scheme targeted mainly at those people considered to be most isolated in British society.

His comments echo sentiments expressed in 2011 when, speaking at the Munich Security Conference, he argued that ‘state multiculturalism’ had failed and had instead encouraged “different cultures to lead separate lives, apart from each other and apart from the mainstream”. Fundamentally, for David Cameron these arguments revolved around the idea that “this is about building a more integrated, cohesive, One Nation country”.  The focus on Muslim women in particular allowed the Prime Minister to claim that this was part of a broader strategy to discourage Muslim women from turning to extremism.

However, Cameron has framed his arguments slightly differently this time round. He has also argued that this is about providing foreign nationals with genuine opportunities to participate in British society, especially those currently hampered by the language barrier. Whilst taking care not to use the word ‘deport’, Cameron has said that the government would not guarantee that people will be able to stay in Britain if their English does not improve. It was then more than just slightly embarrassing when the Home Office statement released about this very proposal misspelt the word ‘language’.

Many have welcomed the promise of extra funding for English classes for Muslim women, including the chair of the Muslim Women’s Network, Shaista Gohir. Like many others, however, Gohir has raised concerns about the way in which the Prime Minister’s remarks have been framed. Some of the criticisms centre around the fact that it was under Cameron’s leadership that funding for many of these English programs was scaled back. Others have criticised the Prime Minister for what appears to be an unhelpful generalisation of Muslim women and their links to extremism.

However, closer analysis of the Cameron’s remarks reveals a curious paradox. On one hand he appears to be seeking to empower the group he identifies as Muslim women, since many of these women find themselves in unequal power relationships at home. He argues that they are segregated from society and barred from taking a more active role, a state of affairs perpetrated by, as Cameron delicately put it, the “menfolk” who have brought conservative patriarchal ways of governing women’s lives to the United Kingdom. It is unclear as yet how simply putting extra money into more English classes and testing the language abilities of these oppressed women is going to help their plight. Surely by the Prime Minister’s own logic the women who are least likely to perform well in these tests are the ones who are most subjugated by their spouses.

In his attempt not to blame Muslim women for failing to participate in British society it appears, for now at least, that this proposal will be punishing these women for being shut out of society by their spouses, without any clear action against their husbands. Equally, as Shaista Gohir points out, the focus on being able to speak English glosses over the fact that there are other barriers which prevent Muslim women from becoming active participants in British society, even when they speak English extremely well.

The timing of all this is worth noting. Cameron is currently undergoing an important renegotiation of Britain’s place within the European Union, in which immigration is a key area of interest. Considering how badly any attempt to infringe on the free movement of people which underpins the EU has been received on the continent, a cynic might argue that these proposals may be an attempt to secure a much needed victory on immigration policy to satisfy some wings of the Conservative party.

Talking about immigration and British identity are never easy and often there is no right or wrong answer. Politicians feel that they have to in some way take the lead on constructing exactly what it means to participate fully in a society. However, Cameron needs to tread carefully to ensure that he does not end up alienating the very people he feels he needs to integrate into British society.