Key facts
- 42% of Britons believe Muslims cannot integrate into British society.
- 55% of Britons believe diversity is eroding national identity.
- 85% of Muslims surveyed favor integration.
- 29% of 18- to 34-year-olds find political violence acceptable.
- 61% of Britons believe the social contract has broken down.
A new report, "Britain Under Strain: The Broken Social Contract, Democratic Distrust and the Mainstreaming of Extremism," reveals significant societal divisions in the UK. Polling indicates that 42% of Britons believe Muslims cannot integrate into British society, and 55% feel that diversity is eroding the nation's identity. These views contrast sharply with findings that 85% of Muslims favor integration, 88% mix comfortably with other faiths, and 85% feel free to practice their religion.
Authored by Sara Khan, the UK's first counter-extremism commissioner until 2024, the report warns of a "structural crisis" stemming from a chronic erosion of trust in institutions. Khan stated that the window for a new prime minister to address these divisions is "vanishingly small." The poll of 4,094 adults also found that 61% believe the social contract has broken down, and 28% are open to ignoring rules for change.
Further findings suggest that 31% of respondents are open to the view that non-white people would never be as British as white people. The report, published ahead of the UK Extremism and Democratic Resilience Centre's launch, noted that 33% of people support remigration, a view held by 71% of Reform UK supporters. Conversely, 64% of British Muslims believe white people are working against them, and 56% hold the same view about Jewish people. Additionally, 27% of Muslims believe the Holocaust has been invented or exaggerated.
The research also highlighted concerns about political violence, with 80% of Britons deeming it unacceptable, yet 29% of 18- to 34-year-olds considering it acceptable. Researchers logged 1,784 far-right offline events and 225 Islamist events over a 12-month period. Iman Atta, director of Tell Mama, described the findings as "deeply, deeply troubling," noting the use of "remigration" language by anti-Muslim and far-right groups.