Were Professor Henry Higgins of Pygmalion fame to stroll down Mornington Street in Leicester, he might well be tempted to throw in the phonetic towel. Here, in the heart of St Matthew’s, language is a tapestry of tongues — few of which, for a significant portion of residents, are English.According to the 2021 Census, this modest stretch of red-brick Victorian terraces has the lowest proportion of English speakers in the entire United Kingdom.In the dozen or so streets surrounding Mornington, nearly 43% of residents aged 16 and above speak little or no English. City-wide, only 57% of Leicester’s population was born in England — a drop from 65% in 2011 — reflecting decades of migration from Gujarat, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, and Eastern Europe. Mornington Street is less a postcode and more a portrait of globalisation — one where children often interpret for grandparents, sari shops outnumber pubs, and Arabic signs sit alongside corner takeaways offering spicy curry pizzas.
Located in a densely populated pocket of North Evington, the area comprises around 2,000 residents across a dozen roads. Mornington Street and the surrounding neighbourhood are home to a significant number of migrants, primarily Muslims of Indian origin from Gujarat, along with sizeable communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Somalia, and Eastern Europe. The area includes two mosques, a Hindu temple, and numerous multilingual households with three generations living under one roof.Local school staff report that children frequently serve as translators for parents and grandparents. Ruki, 62, a lunchtime supervisor at St Barnabas Primary School and a long-time resident, stated that many older residents speak no English and rely on younger family members to communicate with schools and health services.Shohel Issufo, a takeaway owner who arrived from Gujarat in 2003, said he had enrolled in an ESOL course to improve his English. He noted that many people in the area did not feel the need to learn the language because they were surrounded by others who spoke the same dialect.Ribwar Hussein, a garage owner originally from Iraq, explained that he learned English after marrying a British woman. While his children are bilingual, he said the use of Kurdish at home is gradually declining.Carer Payl Vaghela, whose family lives on Mornington Street, said they speak both Gujarati and English at home. Her mother, who has lived in the area for 40 years, is fluent in both languages, while her young son speaks only English with limited understanding of Gujarati.Other residents cited long working hours and family responsibilities as barriers to learning English. Factory worker Imran Ussene noted that although his wife had enrolled in English classes, she had to stop due to childcare duties.A local man said his aunt, who speaks only Memon, had never learned English, finding it too difficult and unnecessary since most of her social circle also communicates in the same language.Community leader Mansoor Moghal, former chairman of Leicestershire’s Race Relations Committee, acknowledged that there are pockets of non-English speakers in Leicester but maintained that the majority of the city’s non-white population does speak English. He added that migrants from Eastern Europe may have also contributed to the high proportion of non-English speakers reflected in the census data.Leicester experienced communal tensions in 2022, including clashes between Hindu and Muslim groups in areas like St Matthew’s. While tensions have since calmed, concerns about integration and communication in linguistically diverse neighbourhoods persist.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer addressed these issues in his recent “Island of Strangers” speech, asserting that migrants must commit to learning English. Though he declined to impose a cap on immigration numbers, he argued that the government should differentiate between those who integrate and those who do not.The speech drew mixed reactions. Reform UK leader Nigel Farage praised Starmer’s comments as long overdue, while Labour MP Diane Abbott denounced them as divisive and harmful.Mornington Street today reflects a microcosm of Britain’s evolving urban identity — shaped by successive waves of migration, multilingualism, and a complex negotiation of culture, belonging, and communication.
