Muslims and Sikhs feel more British than Christians and Jews, university study finds

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Jun 6, 2013

(Daily Mail) – Only 15% of Christians living in UK said in the 2011 Census they feel British. This is compared to 62% of Sikhs, 57% of Muslims and 54% of Hindus. White Britons are far more likely to call themselves English instead. Men and women from Bangladesh, Pakistan and India feel most British.

Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus and Buddhists feel more British than Christians living in the UK, it was revealed today.

Experts say that ethnic minorities are ‘less likely to take their Britishness for granted’ when compared to white people in 21st Century Britain.

University of Manchester academics have analysed the 2011 Census, and found that every other main religion in the UK feels more British than Christians.

Sixty two per cent of Sikhs, 57 per cent of Muslims and 54 per cent of Hindus describe their national identity as British only. The figure is only 15 per cent for Christians.

Picture of the UK: Data harvested from the 2011 UK Census shows that Christians feel less British than any other main religious group

However, 65 per cent of Christians and 54 per cent of Jews say they feel English.

‘Though the 2011 Census allowed people to report multiple identities from English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish, British and Other, nine in ten people reported a single national identity,’ Dr Stephen Jivraj, who led the research, said.

‘Indeed, the distinction between British and English identities continues to confuse not only tourists, but policy makers – but it’s something we all need to understand more fully.

‘If you believe what you read in the newspapers, Muslims are less likely to feel British than anyone else. In fact, the opposite is true.

‘For many non white residents, including Muslims, this feeling of Britishness is probably partly a result of the citizenship process: they are surely less likely to take their Britishness for granted.

‘Our findings are at odds with the present and previous Government’s emphasis on encouraging ethnic minorities and new migrants to accept “British’ life and “British” values.’