U.K. Faces Rising Divide and Declining Trust, Warns Report

A new report has highlighted the U.K.’s deepening divide between the political Left and Right, marked by increasing polarisation and growing distrust of institutions. The Telegraph has more.

The research by Dame Sara Khan, the Government’s former counter-extremism tsar, found the U.K. had the highest levels of polarisation between the two groups outside the U.S.

She warned there was decreasing societal cohesion and resilience which was contributing to a permissive environment that extremists could exploit.

The percentage of people who viewed Muslims as having “completely different” values had increased from 38% to 44% following the summer riots after the Southport murder of three girls at a Taylor Swift dance class.

Around eight in 10 (80%) of Jews felt less safe in Britain than before the October 7th Hamas terror attack on Israel which claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people.

Forty-five per cent of those questioned said they almost never trusted the government to put the nation’s interests first, regardless of the party in power. This was up from 23% in 2020. Only 41% of people trusted their neighbours.

Out of 28 countries, the U.K. was the least trusting at 39%, down from 43% last year. The study published by Crest Insights, an independent think tank that specialises in the criminal justice system, found the UK had the least trust in the media.

Around 43% of people described Britain as “declining” and a further 25% said it was “weak”. …

One in 10 shared the views of people who engaged in violent disorder and rioting during the summer and had sympathy for the use of violence against refugees. Around 8% believed violent protest outside refugee accommodation was justified.

Worth reading in full.

Stop Press: If we are to start with an honest analysis of the real and damaging divisions within our society, we cannot simply point the finger, says Tom Harris in the Telegraph.