Public supports multiculturalism

Thursday, 11 August 2005 12:00 AM

The majority of the British public believes multiculturalism makes the UK a better place to live in, according to a new survey.

The Mori poll for the BBC found 62 per cent of Britons supported multiculturalism, while only one third (32 per cent) thought it undermined the British way of life.

However, 54 per cent said parts of the country did not "feel like Britain any more because of immigration" and nearly four out of ten (39 per cent) said Britain was becoming less racially tolerant.

The survey comes amid growing debate about whether more efforts should be made to integrate Britain's minority communities into mainstream society, in the wake of heightened tensions following the London bombings.

Last week shadow home secretary David Davis said the government must rethink its policy of multiculturalism, accusing it of supporting distinctive identities at the expense of creating a strong sense of nationhood.

Home Office minister Hazel Blears is meeting with Muslim leaders this summer to discuss how to make alienated Muslims, particularly young people, feel part of mainstream society, while Tony Blair has also announced the establishment of a commission for integration.

Proposals previously mooted by the government to improve integration included forcing imams to preach in English, although these were rejected by Muslim groups.

However, today's poll suggests 65 per cent of Muslims support the move, compared to 39 per cent of the national population.

More than half (58 per cent) of Britons thought people coming to live in the UK should adopt the values of and traditions of British culture, although this fell to just 28 per cent of Muslims.

The overwhelming majority of Muslims - 89 per cent - said they felt proud when British teams did well in international competitions.

Ben Page, director of Mori's social research institute, said the majority of all Britons shared "a common level of allegiance to Britain and its institutions" and appeared very tolerant of each other.

Civil rights group Liberty welcomed the survey, with director Shami Chakrabarti saying she took "great heart" from its results.

"It is firm evidence, if this were needed, that the terrorists don't reflect Muslim opinion and the race hate mongers don't represent Britain. Those who thought it fashionable to bash multiculturalism have good cause to think again," she said.

Mori polled 1,004 people in the UK on August 8th and 9th as well as conducting 204 separate interviews among Muslims.

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