Two in five Britons think Muslims cannot integrate in UK, poll finds | UK news
Two in five Britons believe Muslims cannot integrate into British society and more than half believe the country’s national identity is being destroyed by “diversity”, according to a report on extremism by a former government adviser.
Sara Khan, who leaves her post as Britain’s first counter-extremism commissioner in 2024, said such views contrasted sharply with findings showing 85 per cent of Muslims were “in favor of integration”.
Extremist views were said to be exploited and promoted by hostile states and malevolent domestic actors. Researchers recorded 1,784 far-right offline incidents and 225 Islamist incidents over a 12-month period.
At the launch of the report, titled Britain Under Pressure: Broken Social Contract, Democratic Distrust and the Spread of Extremism, Khan warned there was a “vanishingly small” window in which a new prime minister could effectively deal with division and hatred.
Common’s survey of 4,094 adults this spring found that 28% of respondents believe individuals should ignore rules and institutions that get in the way of change. Almost two-thirds (61%) believed the “social contract” that enabled the public to trust UK institutions and norms was broken.
Khan said: “The challenge we face now is much more serious and more fundamental than when I was counter-extremism commissioner. This is not a temporary decline in trust, but a structural crisis that has emerged as a result of the chronic erosion of trust in institutions.”
“The window to grasp this is vanishingly small. The new prime minister must address these issues before our social contract concerns tear apart our democratic values.”
Khan, who was also the government’s independent adviser on social cohesion and resilience from 2021 to 2024, added: “What it means to be British and who that identity belongs to has become a real fault line, not confined to any one political tribe, generation or region. Concern that diversity is eroding national identity is now a mainstream view held by the majority of Britons.”
According to the findings, 55 per cent of people believe Britain’s national identity is being lost due to diversity. Almost a third (31%) of those surveyed described themselves as open to the view that non-white people “will never be as British as white people”.
The report, published ahead of the UK Extremism and Democratic Resilience Center’s (UKEDRC) launch this year, found that 33 per cent of people support return and 42 per cent believe Muslims cannot integrate into British society. Among Reform UK supporters this rises to 71%.
The survey of British Muslims revealed the opposite story; 85 percent were in favor of integration, 88 percent said they integrated comfortably with other faiths, and 85 percent said they practiced their religion freely.
But while 64 per cent of British Muslims said they believed whites were “working against Muslims”, 56 per cent said they thought Jews were. 27 percent said they believed the Holocaust was “invented or exaggerated.”
Dr. works in the extremism policy unit at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. The report, co-authored by Matthew Godwin, also warns of a deterioration in respect for norms and institutions.
According to the poll, 80 per cent of Britons say political violence is never acceptable, while 29 per cent of 18-34 year olds think it is acceptable.
Iman Atta, director of Tell Mama, an NGO that supports victims of anti-Muslim hate and measures and monitors violence, said the findings were “deeply, deeply disturbing.”
He said: “The language of return is being used by anti-Muslim and far-right groups to suggest that British Muslim citizens should eventually be part of the return process.
“This prejudiced and bigoted perspective runs counter to our country’s core values of the rule of law and fair play. There are real ruptures today shaking many communities and their relationships with each other, and unless the government gets really serious about the depth of the problems, we will face turbulent times ahead.”
