Based on the most recent BBC poll 76% of Brits say that there is
either a great deal or a fair amount of tension between races and
nationalities. 64% thinks this tension will translate into violence.
Just an innocent, naive question: shouldn't a democracy listen to its
people?
* * * * *
April 17th, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7352125.stm
Britons fear race violence - poll
Almost two-thirds of people in Britain fear race relations are so poor
tensions are likely to spill over into violence, a BBC poll has
suggested.
Of the 1,000 people asked, 60% said the UK had too many immigrants and
half wanted foreigners encouraged to leave.
But the pro****tion of people describing themselves as "racially
prejudiced" was down to 20%, compared with 24% in 2005.
Equality and Human Rights Commission head Trevor Phillips said the
findings were "alarming".
Britain's last serious race riots - when violent clashes erupted
between white and Asian youths in northern England - happened seven
years ago.
Despite this, the poll, carried out by Mori, found three out of four
people thought there was now a great deal or a fair amount of tension
between races and nationalities.
And almost two in three feared tension was certain or likely to lead
to violence, although it is not clear whether people are imagining
full-blown street riots or minor scuffles.
Mr Phillips told BBC News: "What worries me is if that friction starts
to catch fire - if people do genuinely believe it's going to catch
fire then we're in trouble.
"This finding may reflect not what is happening today but the story
that's been told of the last 40 years - that if you get people of
different kinds together then eventually there's going to be trouble."
The survey was commissioned to mark the 40th anniversary of Enoch
Powell's infamous "rivers of blood" speech, in which he described the
indigenous population's "sense of alarm and resentment" over
immigration.
Speaking of his foreboding, he said: "Like the Roman, I seem to see
the river Tiber foaming with blood."
BBC home editor Mark Easton says Powell's words, spoken to a small
gathering in Birmingham's Midland hotel, still echo down the decades.
He says the effect of Powell's speech was in fact to force the issue
of immigration off the political agenda, with any politician who
ventured to broach the subject risking being accused of playing the
race card.
This situation still exists 40 years later, our correspondent says.
Five months ago, a Tory candidate in Birmingham, Nigel Hastilow, was
forced to step down by David Cameron for saying Powell was right that
uncontrolled immigration would change Britain irrevocably.
However, the BBC poll finds many people share that view.
Asked if they thought immigration meant their local area didn't feel
like Britain any more, a quarter of the sample agreed - double the
amount who felt this three years ago.
Six out of 10 said immigration had made parts of Britain feel like a
foreign country.
When Tory leader Michael Howard suggested communities couldn't cope
with the pace of immigration during the 2005 general election
campaign, he was accused of racism.
However, our correspondent says immigration is now back on the
political agenda.
He says: "One reason politicians can debate it again, perhaps, is that
the latest wave of immigration is different.
"The million Eastern Europeans who've come to the UK in the last three
or four years are not looking to settle for good. Their motives are
economic. And perhaps most im****tantly they are white.
"Forty years after Enoch Powell, the issues of race and immigration
have been separated once more."
Immigration Minister Liam Byrne said the government knew immigration
was a top concern among voters.
He said: "That is why 2008 sees the biggest shake-up to immigration
and border security in 45 years, with a points system like the one in
Australia and new rules to make people earn their stay in the UK,
including speaking English and abiding by our rules.
"That is what is going to make our immigration system fit for the
future."
Source: British Social Attitudes Survey. Years with 99 boxes instead
of 100 are where figures did not round to 100%
For the BBC/Ipsos MORI poll results were based on a nationally
representative sample of 1,000 GB adults aged 18+ years. Interviews
were conducted by telephone using Random Digit Dialling. Fieldwork was
conducted on 11-13 April, 2008.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7352125.stm
Published: 2008/04/17 20:01:42 GMT
=A9 BBC MMVIII
|
