13 February 2015

British Muslims: integration and segregation are about economics, not values

Do you worry about Britain’s growing Muslim population? You’re not alone.

According to the British Social Attitudes (BSA) survey, in 2003, 48 per cent of Britons worried that an increase in the Muslim population would weaken Britain’s national identity. By 2013, that had risen to 62 per cent.

A report from the Muslim Council of Britain this week may sharpen those concerns. Based on Census data, it set out how immigration and a high birth-rate have combined to swell Britain’s population to 2.7 million, around a third of them aged under 15.

Almost every political conversation about British Muslims touches on “integration,” the extent to which they and their socially conservative values fit into an increasingly liberal society. Many people fret about Muslims failing to integrate, leading separate lives in their own insular communities. [The Telegraph] Read more