Britain still a nation of tolerance, says report

Despite the anti-immigration rhetoric of the past few years, the UK is no more biased against migrant workers than other EU nations, says a recent academic report.

Professor Mariah Evans recently published her research into the beliefs and values of the UK and EU countries. She found that 85 per cent of people do not object to having immigrants as neighbours, regardless of how they voted in the 2016 referendum.

She said:

‘In the media turmoil surrounding Brexit, many pundits have seized on the prejudice angle, but these data demonstrate that is not actually what makes the UK different from the Continent. 

‘Prejudice against immigrant workers or minority ethnic and religious groups is rare in the UK, perhaps even slightly rarer than in equivalently developed EU countries.

‘Just like their wealthy EU peers, around 15 per cent of Britons would object to having immigrants as neighbours, around 10 per cent would object to neighbours of a different race, and 10 per cent would rather not have neighbours of a different religion.’

This contradicts a poll conducted last year that showed that the majority believes politicians have misled the public on immigration policy and that those who speak out against it are treated unfairly.