The Hindu : International : Minorities unhappy in U.K.: poll

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 22, 2005

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International

Minorities unhappy in U.K.: poll

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MARCH 21. The image of happily-settled immigrant communities in a "multicultural'' Britain has been undermined by a new poll which shows that racial intolerance has forced at least one in every five ethnic minority voters to consider leaving Britain at some point.

The Guardian/ICM poll, published on Monday to gauge the mood of ethnic minority groups in the run-up to an expected general election in May, indicates a widespread sense of alienation because of racial discrimination and abuse.

"The exclusive survey... shows that only 39 per cent of ethnic minority voters see themselves as `fully British', regardless of how long they have lived here, and more than half say they have been a victim of name-calling or personal abuse,'' it said.

The support for the Labour Party among ethnic minority voters has dropped to 58 per cent, from 75 per cent in the 2001 general election, though 61 per cent of Indian-origin voters say that they will vote Labour.

The survey explodes the myth that minority groups will necessarily vote for a candidate from their own ethnic background. It shows that "political parties will not necessarily benefit by putting up an ethnic minority candidate in a seat with a large ethnic minority population.'' Three-quarters of those polled said it would make no difference to the way they voted.

The perception that minority voters have different priorities in terms of every-day issues is also not true, according the poll which suggests that they are as much concerned about issues such as health, education and crime as anybody else.

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