You are correct, however...consider this possibility...
You’re on a streetcorner, say somewhere in London. Nearby you are two or three males of “asian descent’ (as the English say). They are speaking in their native language, which sounds Arabic. As an English-speaking Briton, you don’t know if they’re discussing whether or not they’re planning to attack you and cut off your head, or if they’re discussing the proper way to make tabouleh.
You don’t understand their language, therefore, you don’t know their intentions. People you can’t understand are suspect, almost always. This, whether we like it or not, is a common human reaction. It may not be kind, but it is what it is. That’s one of the reasons people in the UK (and people here in the US) want the OFFICIAL language to be English.
Beleive me. As a US citizen resident in Canada I have seen it all , the arcane laws on signage , bilingual directons on canned goods, all the crap surrounding the French /English bilingual issue in Canada is essentially demographic warfare.
But at some point free speech must be preserved. And that’s my point.
BTW, I have no problem making the official language of the UK English. I have no problem with doing that in the USA either.It closes off the possibility of the demographic warfare, and the devolution of freedom of speech ( to criticize language publicly in Canada is hate speech)we have seen in alleged democracies such as the Socialist State of Canada.
I have no disagreement with you, except that we can only go so far without the loss of freedom of speech.Go to Quebec City some time and try to order in English at a restaurant there.You will see the results of a lack of freedom and immediate social sanctions for your “Anglophile ignorance,”
doubly so if you reveal yourself as American or British.And Canada is supposed to be a free country? What a laugh.
Government should not preserve linguistic independence of any immigrants.But they need to be free to speak their language in their own homes and families as a matter of free speech.Demographically they should not be settled together so they can become linguistic bastions. Assimilation is not a bad policy .