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The Observer (ICM): Race in Britain Poll (Nov 2001)

A telephone survey conducted in two waves: the first took place just before September 11th and the second in November.

Main findings of first survey:

• 75% of people felt that Britain had benefited from becoming a multi-cultural society. 
• 79% would not mind if a member of their family married someone from a different ethnic background. 
• 61% of people thought that people from EMG had made the most positive impact upon race relations in the field of sport. 
• Around 1 in 3 people thought that there were negative consequences of the rise of multi-cultural society. (Social tension, housing shortages, rising crime.) 
• People valued the influence of the Asian community upon British society, above that of the Afro-Caribbean/Black African and Chinese communities. 
• 48% of people thought that asylum seekers who did not agree to learn English should be sent back home. 
• 53% believed that immigrants should embrace the British way of life. 
• 55% believed that as long as an individual felt British then they were British, irrespective of colour. 
• People tended to overestimate the percentage of the population that was part of an ethnic minority.
  The second survey consisted of six questions and allowed direct comparison with the first survey on two questions only.
• Those who felt that immigrants should embrace the British way of life increased from 53% to 61%. 
• Those who felt that race relations were worse in Britain compared to five years previously increased from 20% to 33%. 
• 49% thought that British Muslims who stated support from Bin Laden should be deported.