Communities secretary says politicians need to reconnect with this group, as study shows resentment over impact of migration

Many white working-class people across the country feel their concerns about the impact of immigration are being ignored, according to the communities and local government secretary, Hazel Blears.

Politicians need to start reconnecting with this group of people, Blears said today, as a study of attitudes to immigration was published finding a widespread sense of resentment, unfairness and disempowerment among white working-class communities in England.

"White working-class people living on estates sometimes just don't feel anyone is listening or speaking up for them," Blears said.

"Whilst they might not be experiencing the direct impact of migration, their fear of it is acute." It was the responsibility of politicians to challenge the myths about immigration spread by the far right, she said.

A report for the Department for Communities and Local Government based on interviews with people living on estates in Birmingham, Milton Keynes, Thetford, Runcorn and Widnes, found that some people believed that the same rules were not applied to everyone equally.

Anecdotal evidence suggested many believed refugees and single mothers were more easily able to find a council house than working-class white people whose families had lived in the area for generations.

People taking part in the focus groups said that when white people complained they were told that the system was fair and their concerns were racist.

Blears said that changes in communities could generate unease and uncertainty and needed explaining, otherwise the myths that currently surrounded the treatment of ethnic minorities "jumping the queue" would become harder to shift.

The report found that some members of the white working class felt "betrayed" and believed politicians had washed their hands of them.

A lack of "open and honest discussion" about the impact of immigration among politicians locally and nationally had created fertile ground for rumours spread by far-right groups about preferential treatment being given to ethnic minorities.

Blears warned that white people's concerns about the effects of immigration should not simply be branded "racist", as this would simply alienate them even more.

Citing a "growing sense of unfairness and disempowerment among poor white people", the Communities and Local Government report found that hostility to immigrants was worst in the most deprived estates, as "people who have the least are more likely to be afraid of things being taken away from them".

Few of those questioned had frequent contact with people from ethnic minorities and few of them understood the idea of integration, the report said. Respondents found it difficult to speak openly about their concerns for fear of being branded racist or offending others.

Blears said: "People who care about their communities and have lived there for generations have every right to ask questions about what is happening in their estate, street, neighbourhood.

"We cannot allow people to exploit situations but where there are legitimate concerns or questions they should be able to express them without fear of being branded a racist when all they really want are answers or information.

"The job of politicians and leaders is to listen and respond, to have the very debates that people in these estates are having or we risk losing touch with them altogether.

"What the report shows is that there are real complexities around the perceptions held by the white working class and government is keen to look more closely at what can be done to ensure that grievances and misunderstandings are addressed."

A seminar is to be hosted by DCLG ministers in the coming weeks, bringing together government departments, councils and academics to look at how to "bridge the gap" between the authorities and the white working-class communities they serve.

In the past Blears has faced criticism for some of her remarks on immigration but the minister accused her political opponents of taking her comments out of context.

Speaking later on the BBC's World at One programme, Blears admitted that the national housing shortage was at the heart of the problem.

"People do want to see more housing in this country," she said. "That is a key problem that is causing a lot of the underlying tension with people.

"When people have very little they feel insecure then you get myths and rumours peddled by those on the far right and that is what we are trying to prevent."

Blears repeatedly dodged suggestions that councils should be instructed to give priority housing to local people but said plans to build more than 1 million new homes should ease the problem.

Labour MP Frank Field, co-chairman of the cross-party group on balanced migration, called on the government to address white working-class worries about immigration.

He said: "Hazel Blears says that people on council estates feel ignored. That is exactly our point. And not only on council estates – 80% of the public want to see a substantial reduction in immigration, but the government refuses to address the issue.

"No wonder people feel the government is riding roughshod over their wishes, and not only in the poorest areas, which are bearing the brunt of the present massive level of immigration. Unless further action is taken soon, immigration will add nearly 10 million to the population of England in the next 20 years.

"If Labour wants to influence the outcome of the next general election, it had better start addressing white working-class concern about immigration, not simply reporting on it."

Responding to Blears's statement, Lady Warsi, the Tories' spokeswoman on community cohesion, said: "What an indictment of New Labour that they have to have an investigation to show that over the last 10 years they have completely lost touch with their so-called roots.

"The danger for the rest of us is that this has now created a ticking time bomb of racial and class prejudice.

"Amongst other things this has also demonstrated the dangers of Labour's past use of identity politics for electoral purposes. I do hope they take the right lessons from this and not use it as an excuse to go down the line of a new 'white relations industry' now to be built on yet another 'special needs identity' .

"This should be a call to focus on the real core problems of worklessness, debt, welfare dependency, family breakdown and drug and alcohol abuse."