03 March 2024 , 22:30
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More than a quarter of people in Britain said they would be uncomfortable if a loved one planned to marry a Muslim, shocking polling has found.
Some 27% of people said they would feel uneasy if they were in that position. It is higher than the 25% who said they would feel uncomfortable if a relative or friend was planning to marry someone of the same-sex.
Researchers said the findings should be a "wake up call to politicians" that "anti-muslim and anti-semitic rhetoric" has "serious real world consequences". The polling, from More in Common for the Together Coalition, found one in five (21%) people hold negative views about Muslims.
Travellers were the only group the public was more likely to express such views about, with 31% admitting to negative opinions. In comparison, 9% of people had negative attitudes towards Jews, 8% towards Black African/Caribbean people and 7% towards Christians.
It comes as senior MP Lee Anderson was suspended from the Tory party last month after saying Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists. Rishi Sunak said Mr Anderson’s comments were “wrong” but that he was not "racist" and the party did not have a problem with Islamophobia.
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In an emergency speech about extremism on Friday, the PM said there has been a "shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality" and said "our democracy itself is a target". But he warned: “The faith of Islam, peacefully practised by millions of our fellow citizens is emphatically not the same thing as the extremist political ideology of Islamism.”
Luke Tryl, UK Director of More in Common, said: “The anti-muslim and anti-semitic rhetoric that we have heard from some politicians in recent weeks has serious real world consequences. The findings should be a wake up call to politicians and wider civil society that they need to do more to tackle rather than inflame community divides.”
Julie Siddiqui, interfaith lead at the Together Coalition and Muslim commentator, said: “Words have consequences and consistent anti-Muslim rhetoric by mainstream politicians has emboldened a sizable minority of the British public to admit having prejudiced views. When politicians whip up anti-Muslim rhetoric or struggle to even name the problem of Islamophobia and anti-muslim hate - we shouldn’t be surprised to see it embolden and inflame a prejudiced minority.”
Brendan Cox, co-founder of the Together Coalition, said: “While there’s a lot to worry about in this poll, the positive news is that prejudice towards any of the identity groups we tested was not held by a majority of the public. Even Muslims - who were one of the groups people were most likely to express prejudice against - were seen positively or neutrally by 75% of the public.
“Political parties should remember that tapping into prejudice is more likely to alienate the public than win them over. Friday’s re-set speech from the Prime Minister showed that Downing Street also knows that being seen to indulge prejudice is a bad look for a PM who wants to win an election."
More in Common interviewed 2,075 adults online in Great Britain February 23-27.