Getty David Davies MP said people have a right to be scared of women wearing burkas

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David Davies told the Commons today people in big cities also become nervous when seeing women wearing burkas or "trailing six-feet behind" their husbands. The Monmouth MP said it is also reasonable for people in some parts of north Wales to feel the same when they fail to hear Welsh on a day-to-day basis.

It's too often dismissed as narrow-minded racism when it's not, in my view David Davies

He insisted these concerns should not be dismissed as racist and said migrants should learn the language of the country where they live while also fitting in with its culture and values. Speaking during the second reading debate on the Government's controversial Immigration Bill, the backbencher said: "I think there is a wider public concern about illegal immigration. It's too often dismissed as narrow-minded racism when it's not, in my view.

Getty Immigrants should integrate into British society, Mr Davies said

"I think it is reasonable for people who live in established communities to get nervous when they suddenly find that English - or indeed in some parts of north Wales, Welsh - is no longer the language they're hearing day to day on the streets. "In some of the larger cities people become nervous when they see cultural changes that they can't necessarily go along with - women wearing burkas or trailing six-feet behind their husbands, for example, or issues such as female genital mutilation or forced marriage.

"And it's no good dismissing these concerns as racism, it's not, because I think we're a very, very, very tolerant bunch of people in Britain. "But I think all of us, no matter what our origins, have a right to assume that anyone who chooses to come to this country really ought to respect the language of the place they've chosen to live and learn that language as best as they possibly can, and also to fit in with the culture and values of that country, rather than expecting that they should be able to impose their own cultural values."

Getty Immigrants who do not speak English should be feared

Getty Immigrants from all over the globe should integrate, Mr Davies said