Intolerance of immigrants is actually ‘rare’ in the UK, report finds UK no more prejudiced than other wealthy European nations

Brexit is not a symptom of intolerance towards immigrants claim academics who say the UK is no more prejudiced than any other wealthy European nation.

A study of World and European Value Surveys of beliefs and opinions in 100 countries found in the UK about 15 per cent of people would object to having immigrant neighbours.

Professor Mariah Evans, co-author of the report from the University of Nevada, Reno, 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.

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“Prejudice against immigrant workers or minority ethnic and religious groups is rare in the UK.”

Intolerance of immigrants

According to the study, published in Frontiers in Sociology, the UK is “stock standard” for a wealthy EU nation in terms of prejudice.

Many pundits have seized on the prejudice angle, but these data demonstrate that is not actually what makes the UK different from the Continent Professor Mariah Evans

The report authors said: “We found a high level of tolerance for ethnic and religious diversity is typical of prosperous European and Anglophone nations, whereas ethnic and religious prejudice is much more common in poor countries.”

And they found tackling one form of prejudice improves tolerance towards all groups.

Tackling prejudice

Results revealed the UK is “stock standard” given its GDP per capita and comparable to its wealthy EU peers, with around 15 per cent of Britons objecting to having immigrants as neighbours, around 10 per cent objecting to neighbours of a different race and 10 per cent would rather not have neighbours of a different religion.

Researchers concluded: “This strongly suggests that Brexit did not come about because the UK’s population is distinctively prejudiced and that similar issues may well-arise in other EU nations in future years.”