Of the thousand respondents, 60% believe there are too many immigrants in Britain, and 50% believe that their departure from the country should be facilitated. 20% of poll participants admitted to having racial prejudices. In 2005, their share was 24%.
The most recent race riots in Britain occurred seven years ago. At that time, clashes erupted in northern England between young people of European and Asian origin.
Regarding the data obtained in the survey, the head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, Trevor Phillips, said: 'These results may reflect not what is happening now, but what has been happening over the past 40 years – the fact that if you bring different people together, problems will inevitably arise sooner or later.'
The BBC survey was conducted on the 40th anniversary of the famous speech by British politician Enoch Powell, which was called 'Rivers of Blood' and drew attention to Britain's racial problems. Powell's speech at the time led to politicians ceasing to discuss the immigration issue, fearing they would be accused of exploiting the racial question for their own benefit. This situation persists to this day.
Five months ago, Conservative Party leader David Cameron forced Nigel Hastilow, the party's candidate in the Birmingham election, to withdraw his candidacy after Hastilow stated that Enoch Powell was right when he said uncontrolled immigration would forever change Britain. When in 2005 the then Conservative leader Michael Howard said that in some regions people cannot cope with the problems arising from the influx of immigrants, he was accused of racism. However, as the BBC survey shows, many people share this view.
25% of respondents said that due to immigration, they no longer feel that they live in Britain. Three years ago, such responses were half as many. Six out of ten survey participants noted that because of immigration, some areas of Britain look like foreign countries.
Mark Easton notes that the immigration issue is now being discussed again. In his opinion, one reason for this is the nature of the latest wave of immigration, which allows avoiding the racial issue in discussions. 'The million Eastern Europeans who have arrived in Britain over the past three or four years do not want to stay here forever,' says Easton. 'Their motives are economic. And perhaps more importantly, they are white.'