Racism in the United Kingdom

Sectarianism between British Protestants and Irish Catholics in Northern Ireland has been called a form of racism by some international bodies;[1] it has resulted in widespread discrimination, segregation and serious violence, especially during partition and the Troubles.

Some studies suggest Brexit led to a rise in racist incidents and hostility to foreigners or immigrants, adversely affecting Poles, Romanians and other European groups.

In ports, such as South Shields,[21] Glasgow, London's East End, Liverpool, Cardiff, Barry and Newport there were fierce race riots targeting ethnic minority populations.

The landmark case Constantine v Imperial Hotels Ltd (1944) established an important step in the development of modern anti-discrimination law[23] and according to Peter Mason, it "was one of the key milestones along the road to the creation of the Race Relations Act of 1965.

In Parliament, then Under-Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs Paul Emrys-Evans said the government: "most strongly condemns any form of racial discrimination against Colonial people in this country.

The project also notes that the British school system "has been indicted on numerous occasions for racism, and for undermining the self-confidence of black children and maligning the culture of their parents".

As a result, many black immigrants were forced to live in slum areas of cities, where the housing was of poor quality and there were problems of crime, violence and prostitution.

[49] Historian Winston James suggests that the experience of racism in Britain was a major factor in the development of a shared Caribbean identity amongst black immigrants from a range of different island and class backgrounds.

The project also says that the British school system "has been indicted on numerous occasions for racism, and for undermining the self-confidence of black children and maligning the culture of their parents".

[62][63][64] Racist comments against Gypsies and Travellers are common on social media and newspaper websites, these frequently include incitement to violence against GRT people, wishing death upon them, and even calls for genocide.

[68] Various British historians like James Mill and Charles Grant wrote influential books and essays portraying Indians as deceitful, liars, dishonest, depraved and incapable of ruling themselves.

Both Mill and Grant attacked Orientalist scholarship that was too respectful of Indian culture: "It was unfortunate that a mind so pure, so warm in the pursuit of truth so devoted to oriental learning, as that of Sir William Jones, should have adopted the hypothesis of a high state of civilization in the principal countries of Asia.

"[77] Starting in the late 1960s,[78] and peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, violent gangs opposed to immigration took part in frequent attacks known as "Paki-bashing", which targeted and assaulted Pakistanis and other South Asians.

[91] This has led to a marked increase in hate crimes, verbal abuse, and discriminatory practices against Muslims, especially those who are visibly identifiable, such as women wearing hijabs or niqabs.

[96][97] The rise of the English Defence League (EDL) in the 2010s and other extremist groups led to public demonstrations that frequently targeted Muslim communities, contributing to social tension and incidents of violence.

[99] The All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims has worked to introduce a formal definition of Islamophobia, although this has yet to be fully adopted by the government of the United Kingdom.

The Tell MAMA project,[102] which tracks Islamophobic incidents, reported a significant increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes following the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing and the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings.

[104][105] In 2024, riots erupted in England, fueled by false claims circulated by far-right groups that the perpetrator of a stabbing incident in Southport was a Muslim and an asylum seeker.

London Rabbis reported a general sense of fear in the community, and four people were arrested for racially aggravated public order offenses whilst brandishing Palestinian flags.

[125] Government reports in early 2001 highlighted the smuggling of illegal meat as a possible source for the 2001 United Kingdom foot-and-mouth outbreak, some of which was destined for a Chinese restaurant.

[152] For example, after a 2017 case in Newcastle, former Conservative policing and justice minister Mike Penning urged Attorney General Jeremy Wright to consider the offences as racially motivated.

[154][155] In 2023, then Home Secretary Suella Braverman was criticised when she said the perpetrators in high-profile grooming gang cases were "almost all British-Pakistani" men, which critics said was using a "dog whistle" and perpetuating stereotypes.

[156][157][158] In 2025, former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick said that group-based child sexual exploitation is "perhaps the greatest racially motivated crime in modern Britain",[159] and said it was covered up by the British state to protect community relations.

I should be interested to hear a speech and read a book or two on the subject of what Ireland has done to England... if we do have an Irish Republic as our neighbour, and it is found possible to return her exiled citizens, what a grand clearance there will be in all the western ports, from the Clyde to Cardiff, what a fine exit of ignorance and dirt and drunkenness and disease.

[185] In 2002, English journalist Julie Burchill narrowly escaped prosecution for incitement to racial hatred, following a column in The Guardian where she described Ireland as being synonymous with "child molestation, Nazi-sympathising, and the oppression of women".

[188] Shortly before the 2012 Summer Olympics, British athlete Daley Thompson was shown an image of a runner with a misspelt tattoo and said that the person responsible for the misspelling "must have been Irish".

[citation needed] In November 2009, the Home Office published a study that suggested that once other variables were accounted for, ethnicity was not a significant predictor of offending, anti-social behaviour or drug abuse among young people.

[249] This is consistent with data since at least 1994, and potential reasons to explain the difference include poor healthy literacy, underlying socioeconomic factors, and racism in healthcare settings.

Vaccine hesitancy was driven by unethical health treatments towards black people in the past, with many surveyed citing the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in the United States as an example.

Another reason given was the lack of trust in the authorities and the perception that black people were being targeted as guinea pigs for the vaccine which was spurred by misinformation online and some religious organisations.