UK faces ‘frightening increase in national division and decline’

One in two believes British culture is changing too fast

New research found that 86% of respondents perceive increasing tension between immigrants and British citizens, with 84% also expressing that the country feels more divided, per Metro.

Post-Brexit division has 'morphed into party political and other splits' around immigration and so-called 'culture wars', as reported by King's College London researchers.

One in two believe British culture is changing too fast, while 48% said they would like their country to return to 'the way it used to be'.

Immigration policy researcher Zoe Gardner told Metro: "I’m not surprised at all to see this because racist hate crimes have been on the increase.

"Also, the rhetoric coming from politicians has been unbelievably hateful over the last few months.

"This has been ramped up to an extreme degree, and it’s dominating the news, so it’s not surprising at all that people are feeling like this.

"If I were asked whether I thought there was an increase in tensions, I would also say there is, and I think that’s something important to think about when looking at these figures.

"People saying there are increased tensions between immigrants and British-born people does not mean that they feel hostile themselves towards immigrants."

"It’s just a recognition that race relations and immigration are at a fever pitch at the moment, and I think people are very worried about that."

She went on to add that politicians using anti-immigration language, which once 'shocked' most voters, has 'now become completely normal'.

The number of hate crimes, including race and religiously motivated offences, recorded by police in England and Wales, has risen for the first time in three years.

A spokesperson for Migrant Help expressed their concern regarding the increase in anti-immigration sentiment and hostility.

They said: "Whilst we understand immigration is an important topic for many, abusive language and dehumanising rhetoric have a direct impact on the people we support as well as our colleagues across the sector.

"For this reason, we decided to step away from certain social media platforms earlier this year, as we felt they were no longer a safe or constructive space for our organisation.’

Director of the Policy Institute at King's College London, Professor Bobby Duffy, said: "This latest study shows a frightening increase in the sense of national division and decline in the UK in just a few years.

"We’ve seen steep rises in the beliefs that the UK is divided, that “culture wars” are real and that things were better in the past.

He added that Britain had gone through 'an incredibly divisive period around the EU referendum and its aftermath', and that this division now seems to have 'morphed into party political and other splits, with attitudes to immigration and the speed of culture change more generally at the heart of them'.