Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom
Factors that are contributing to the growth of minority populations are varied in nature, including differing birth rates and Immigration.
[1] A variety of ethnic groups have settled on the British Isles, dating back from the last ice age up until the 11th century.
The UK has a history of small-scale non-European immigration, with Liverpool having the oldest Black British community dating back to at least the 1730s, during the period of the African slave trade.
Since 1948 and particularly from the mid-1950s, immigration from the West Indies and the Indian Subcontinent occurred in substantial numbers due to labour shortages in Britain after World War II.
However, instances of documented and perceived racism, and heavy-handed policing by the native English population, has led to a number of riots, most notably in 1958, 1981, 1985 and 2011.
[20] User consultation undertaken for the purpose of planning the 2011 census revealed that some participants thought the "use of colour (White and Black) to define ethnicity is confusing or unacceptable".
From the beginning of modern migration to the country, the White population has been in proportional decline; however, the question of ethnicity was only first asked in the 1991 census.
In the four pie charts below shows the ethnic make up of each country of the United Kingdom and as a whole over time.The British government recognises the Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish peoples as national minorities under the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, which the UK signed in 1995 and ratified in 1998.
[24] However, the considerable migration after World War II increased the ethnic and racial diversity of UK, especially in London.
[25][26][27] The national identity of 'being British' is to respect the laws and parliamentary structures, as well as all maintaining the right to equality; however, this does not cover the concept of multiculturalism.
[6] A poll conducted by MORI for the BBC in 2005 found that 62 per cent of respondents agreed that multiculturalism made the UK a better place to live, compared to 32 percent who saw it as a threat.
In Wales and Scotland the majority of white and ethnic minority participants identified with Welsh or Scottish first and British second.
[36] Other research conducted for the CRE found that white participants felt that there was a threat to Britishness from large-scale immigration, claiming that they perceived ethnic minorities made a rise in moral pluralism and political correctness.
[37] Ethnic minorities have been under-represented in comparison with their white counterparts in the United Kingdom's political system, particularly in the British Parliament.
