A new survey suggests many people in Britain believe the country’s national identity is weakening, with immigration, social cohesion, and trust in public institutions emerging as major concerns.
The poll, conducted by the More in Common research organization, found that 55 percent of respondents believe Britain’s national identity is disappearing as a result of increasing diversity driven by decades of mass immigration. The findings are part of a broader report examining public attitudes toward social cohesion, democratic trust, and political polarization.
The survey also found that 42 percent of respondents do not believe Muslims can be fully integrated into British society. That view was particularly common among supporters of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, where 71 percent expressed that opinion, according to reporting by The Guardian.
Beyond questions of integration, the survey identified other views that researchers described as significant indicators of growing social division. Thirty-one percent of respondents agreed with the statement that non-white people could “never be as British” as the native white population, while 33 percent said they supported the concept of “remigration,” a term generally referring to encouraging or requiring immigrants to return to their countries of origin.
The survey also examined the views of British Muslims.
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According to the findings, 85 percent of Muslim respondents said they support integrating into British society, while 88 percent said they mix well with people from other religious backgrounds.
At the same time, the poll found that 64 percent of Muslim respondents believed the white British population was “working against Muslims.” The survey also reported that 56 percent believed Jewish people were working against Muslims.
Researchers said the results point to a broader decline in trust across multiple communities rather than concern isolated to any single demographic group.
The survey questioned 4,094 adults across Britain as part of an upcoming report for the UK Extremism and Democratic Resilience Centre titled Britain Under Strain: The Broken Social Contract, Democratic Distrust and the Mainstreaming of Extremism.
One of the report’s most striking findings involved confidence in public institutions.
Sixty-one percent of respondents said they believe the “social contract” between Britain’s institutions and the public has broken down, reflecting widespread dissatisfaction with the country’s political and civic leadership.
While four out of five respondents said political violence is never acceptable, attitudes varied considerably by age. Among adults between 18 and 34 years old, 29 percent said political violence could be acceptable in some circumstances. The survey also found that 28 percent of respondents said they would accept politicians they support breaking rules in order to achieve political objectives.
Sara Khan, a former U.K. counter-extremism commissioner and one of the report’s co-authors, warned that confidence in Britain’s democratic institutions has reached a critical point.
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“The incoming prime minister must address these issues before our social contract anxieties shred away our democratic values,” Khan said.
She argued that the current situation represents more than a temporary decline in public confidence.
“The challenge now facing us is more serious, and more deeply rooted, than when I was counter-extremism commissioner. This is not a passing dip in confidence but a structural crisis as a result of a chronic erosion of trust in institutions.”
The report arrives as Britain continues to debate immigration policy, social integration, and government responses to political extremism. Critics of successive governments have argued that repeated promises to significantly reduce immigration have not been fulfilled, contributing to declining public confidence in the political system.
The article also noted concerns that future government efforts could place greater emphasis on regulating online speech rather than addressing underlying public concerns surrounding immigration, integration, and institutional trust.
Separately, Professor David Betz of King’s College London’s Department of War Studies has previously warned that Britain faces growing internal tensions, arguing that longstanding disputes over multiculturalism and the inability of successive governments to resolve those issues have increased the risk of serious domestic conflict.
