Germans warned against speaking own language in London

A German woman living in London says that there has been a rise in xenophobia in Britain following the Brexit vote.

Picture: Getty

Lawyer Carmen Prem was quoted in German paper Die Welt warning her fellow countrymen and women not to speak their native language should they visit the country’s capital.

Her claims were published this week under the headline “Foreigners feel a strong xenophobia in the UK since the EU referendum and describe their reactions.”

The piece went on to say there is now “a new bitterness, an anger which hardly any of the countless non-British on the island expected”.

Prem said: “If you are out with the children, maybe don’t speak German too loudly at the moment.”

The mother of two, who has lived in London for 12 years, said she was on a bus recently when the bus driver ordered passengers to “kindly speak English”.

She said: “The tone has changed,” she said. “No Briton would ever say ‘we do not want you here’.

“But it is now ‘we and you’.”

Professor Paul Bishop, of the School of Modern Languages and Culture at the University of Glasgow, said: “I think this article shows a sense of concern about how Britain appears to people living here.

“What I would like to know is whether this xenophobia has arisen after the referendum result or whether it was there before and this is now coming to the surface?”

Immigration played a key role in the European Union referendum with the Leave side pledging to reduce immigration should they win.

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