[b]UK majority back multiculturalism [/b]

Many believe multiculturalism improves UK society
The majority of British people think multiculturism makes the country a better place, a BBC poll suggests.
But 32% think it "threatens the British way of life" and 54% think "parts of the country don't feel like Britain any more because of immigration".

The Mori poll for the BBC also suggests the 7 July bomb attacks have not led to an upsurge in racial intolerance.

The survey questioned 1,004 people in the UK. A booster survey of 204 British Muslims was conducted for comparison.

The overwhelming majority of Muslims - 89% - said they feel proud when British teams do well in international competitions, a similar figure to the national population.

And the survey suggests broad agreement between the two groups on immigrants being made to learn English and accept the authority of British institutions.

Ben Page, director of Mori's social research institute, said: "The survey shows that despite 7/7, the majority of both white British people and Muslims share a common level of allegiance to Britain and its institutions and seem very tolerant of each other, in contrast to media reporting following the London bombing.

"They support the expulsion of those who promote terror, and the use of measures like house arrest, but both groups are more divided over any fundamental changes to civil liberties as a reaction to 7/7, such as trial without jury, or detention with trial." Divided

But the survey suggests a more "confused" attitude to the concept of multiculturalism, Mr Page added.

Some 62% of the national population believe "multiculturalism makes Britain a better place to live", according to the poll.

At the same time, 58% thought "people who come to live in Britain should adopt the values of and traditions of British culture".

Among Muslims, 87% thought multiculturalism improved British society, but only 28% thought people coming from abroad should adopt British culture and values.

Both groups disagreed strongly with the suggestion that the policy of multiculturalism had failed and should be abandoned.

But on the issue of Muslim students wearing headscarves opinion was more divided, with 35% of the national population saying they should be made to remove them, compared to 16% of Muslims.

HOW POLL WAS CONDUCTED
Poll used representative sample of 1,004 adults aged 16+ interviewed by phone
Further 204 interviews conducted among Muslims
Of these, 112 were with Muslims who had agreed to re-contact from other surveys
Remaining 92 contacted via random dialling in 27 local council areas in groups of wards with over 10% Muslim residents
These data then weighted to reflect Muslim population profile
All interviews conducted on 8 and 9 August 2005
Only 2% of the national population described themselves as "very racially prejudiced", but the survey's other findings suggest a "substantial minority of British people are not tolerant", Mr Page said.

A third said they thought Islam was "incompatible with the values of British democracy".

Asked if Britain should stop all asylum, the figures for the national population and the Muslim community are almost identical with just over a third of the population agreeing.

The survey also showed young Muslims were less racially tolerant than their parent's generation, Mr Page said.

According to the survey, 74% of Muslims think Britain should deport or exclude foreigners who encourage terrorism, compared with 91% of the population as a whole.

BBC