Tensions between Britons and migrants 'rise to all-time high'

King's College London (KCL) researchers claimed divisions had risen over so-called "culture wars" and migration - though they blamed Brexit for starting the fault-lines.

The survey, carried out by KCL's policy institute and pollsters at Ipsos, found that nearly nine in 10 Britons (86 per cent) now believe there is tension between immigrants and those born in the country.

Just two years ago, this figure stood at 74 per cent.

Asked about the idea that Britain is generally divided, 84 per cent reported feeling this way.

Exactly half of respondents said the country's culture is changing too quickly, while 48 per cent said they wanted Britain to return to “the way it used to be”.

The number of Britons who feel proud of their country also fell to under half (46 per cent) - down from 56 per cent just five years ago.

KCL's policy institute director 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.”

The survey asked Britons questions covering a wide range of topics, including transgender issues and wokeness.

Findings suggested that there has been a "significant shift" in public opinion surrounding transgender rights, according to researchers.

Britons saying these rights had now "gone too far" had more than doubled compared to five years ago, now standing at 39 per cent compared to 17 per cent in 2020.

This view has risen across all age groups, and while fewer than a fifth (19 per cent) of 16 to 24-year-olds feel this way, this is up from 9 per cent in 2020.

Overall, 19 per cent of all those asked said they felt transgender rights have not gone far enough in the UK, down from 31% in 2020.

Just under half (48 per cent) of Britons felt that being called woke was an insult, doubling the number of people sharing the same view in 2020 (24 per cent).

Prof Duffy said that Britain had been through “an incredibly divisive period around the EU referendum and its aftermath”, which has since “morphed into party political and other splits, with attitudes to immigration and the speed of culture change more generally at the heart of them”.

Ipsos' senior director of UK politics Gideon Skinner said: “Perceptions of political and cultural disharmony are growing, reflecting a society grappling with nostalgia, the pace of change, and growing tensions over immigration, and with polarised views over what terms like ‘woke’ signify.”

However, he warned: “On many issues there is no clear consensus, with a need to understand the differences under the topline figures - it should not be forgotten that many people are not on the extremes in their views”.

The survey, carried out in August, questioned 4,027 Britons aged 16 and over.

Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter