By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS
London : Will the whites be reduced to a minority in Britain? What was once unthinkable may soon become a reality, mainly in towns such as Leicester in the East Midlands, which are home to a large population of Gujarati origin.
There are several reasons for the kaleidoscope of colours in Britain becoming more varied in the near future: a declining white population, increasing non-white immigration and population growth in settled non-white communities.
New research shows that the proportion of white people in every region of Britain will fall between now and 2020.
According to Ludi Simpson of Manchester University, Leicester will become the first “plural” city within 12 years, by 2019, followed by Birmingham in 2024.
Simpson told The Telegraph: “In Leicester and Birmingham the white group will remain the largest by far – though it will not account for a majority of the population. These and most other cities are already diverse with many different ethnic minorities.
“Indeed, it is indisputable that, whether the whole of Britain or its city districts are considered, there will be more cultures represented in more equal numbers. Britain’s growing diversity is clear and measurable but it is not as focussed on a few cities as many people imagine. Diversity is apparent in suburban and rural neighbourhoods too.”
The first towns where non-whites will outnumber the whites within the next 30 years are Leicester, Birmingham. Slough and Luton.
In some council wards in these towns, as well as many others across Britain, non-whites are already in a majority.
Thirty-five towns and cities had at least one council ward that was “minority white”.
London is forecast to be 39 percent ethnic by 2021 and Bradford 38.2 percent by 2030.
Oldham and Rochdale are forecast to be 20 percent ethnic by 2021; Sheffield, 17.3 percent by 2030; Leeds, 15 percent by 2030; Stoke, nine percent by 2021 and Kingston upon Hull, 6.7 percent by 2030.
The category of ‘ethnic minorities’ in official discourse usually means Asians from the Indian sub-continent and Afro-Caribbeans, but recent demographic trends have made the category increasingly fluid.
Before the recent expansion of the European Union, in some councils in Britain, ‘whites’ from east European countries were categorised as a minority. There are already signs that in several towns across Britain, whites will continue to be the largest group, but no longer in a majority.
Paul Winstone, race relations policy officer of the Leicester City Council, told IANS: “Already 50 percent of schoolchildren of five years’ age are non-white, and by 2011 we are talking of a non-white majority.
“Nowhere has this happened peacefully, and we are proud of what we have achieved in Leicester over the last 30 years. We don’t want anybody to see this as a threat to the English way of life, since the majority will consist of several minorities.
“Leicester is now a permanently multicultural society. Today the Asians have political power, economic power and cultural discipline. The sky is the limit for them.”
A spokesman for the Commission for Racial Equality said: “Several cities are set to have a white minority within the next few years. This in itself is not a negative thing. The issue here is not one of percentages or numbers. What does matter is how well people interact.”
Leicester has had the best record of people-to-people interaction, and is often studied by leaders of many European cities with ethnically diverse populations. Among the most integrated communities is the large number of people of Indian origin who were expelled from Uganda by Idi Amin in the early 1970s.
Today, Leicester evokes a fierce sense of loyalty among non-whites who do not feel as comfortable or safe anywhere else in Britain. Ethnic diversity appears to be the cornerstone of its harmony. Leicester, as a recent City Council document put it, has “The joy of being a truly diverse society…(with the) potential to become the UK role model for cultural diversity and inclusion.”
All the City Council documents are published in Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati and Urdu besides English. The welcome sign at Leicester railway station too carries all these languages.
Robert Colls of the University of Leicester told IANS: “Good race relations is like good cricket – simple, easy, not trying too hard. It hasn’t been self-conscious; it just crept on us over the last 30 years. Leicester grows in your esteem when you visit American cities divided by racial tensions.”
Leicester has ethnic minority representation at the highest levels: an Asian MP (Keith Vaz), and Asians as the deputy chief of police, chief executive of the city council, lord mayor and deputy to the lord lieutenant. A third of the councillors are non-white.
In 1979, two percent of the city council employees were from the ethnic minorities. Today the figure is 22 percent, and growing.
Asians own over 3,000 small and medium enterprises, accounting for nearly a half of the city’s commercial turnover. These Asian businessmen include at least six millionaires.