The BBC today released the findings of its latest opinion poll. The results show that, despite the horrors of the London bombings, the British people believe that multiculturalism makes Britain a better place to live.

Responding to the poll Shami Chakrabarti, Director of Liberty said:

"Liberty takes great heart from this BBC poll. It is firm evidence, if this were needed, that the terrorists don’t reflect Muslim opinion and the race hate mongers don’t represent Britain. Those who thought it fashionable to bash multiculturalism have good cause to think again.”

Liberty Press Office: 020 7378 3656 or 07973 831 128

NOTES TO EDITORS

The BBC poll put out today shows that the vast majority of Muslims in Britain reject the idea that the country is becoming less racially tolerant. If anything, they are more optimistic about race relations than the population as a whole. This finding comes as a surprise following suggestions of a big increase in racial attacks since the London terrorist bombings last month.

The poll was conducted by MORI over the past few days, testing attitudes among a representative sample of the national population and a booster survey of Muslims to allow comparison.

The poll tests attitudes towards multiculturalism in Britain.
62% say multiculturalism makes Britain a better place to live. Asked if “the policy of multiculturalism in Britain has been a mistake and should be abandoned”, 68% disagreed with only 21% agreeing.

The poll suggests that the number of Britons who regard themselves as racially prejudiced has fallen – from 30% in 2003 down to 25% today.

It also questioned people’s attitude to new laws in the wake of the terrorist attacks, and showed that trial without jury for terrorism offences is rejected by two thirds of the general population (64%) and the Muslim community (66%).

65% of the general population think it is unacceptable to stop and search people on the basis of their race.

58% of the general population think it is unacceptable to stop all asylum into the UK.

The results are based on a nationally representative sample of 1,004 GB adults aged 16+ years.

Interviews for the national sample were conducted by telephone using Random Digit Dialing.

The national sample includes 25 Muslim respondents. In addition to this, 204 interviews were conducted on a booster survey of Muslims. Interviews were conducted by telephone with Muslim respondents who had agreed to be re-contacted after taking part in MORI’s face to face Omnibus Surveys. 112 were conducted using such leads. The remainder 92 interviews were conducted using Random Digit Dialing across 27 local authority areas containing clusters of wards with a Muslim population penetration of at least 10%.