Middle class Britons to be biased about Islam, survey says

PEOPLE from middle and upper classes are more likely to form prejudiced views about Islam than working-class groups, a survey done by University of Birmingham has found.

According to the data, 23.2 per cent of Britain people from upper and middle-class groups have biased views about Islam compared to 18.4 per cent of people from working class.

The survey done along with YouGov, said the British public is almost three times more likely to hold prejudiced views of Islam than compared to other religions.

“It’s the people from an upper and middle class background, who presumably are university educated, who feel more confident in their judgments but (are) also more likely to make an incorrect judgment,” Dr Stephen Jones, the report’s lead author was quoted as saying.

He added: “It’s almost like because they’re more educated, they’re also more miseducated, because that’s the way Islam is presented in our society.”

For the report titled as The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain, a survey was done by interviewing 1,667 people between 20 and 21 July 2021.

The survey also found that muslims are the UK's second "least liked" group, after Gypsy and Irish travellers, with 25.9 per cent of British public having negative feeling towards muslims.

The report also says that 18.1 per cent of people support prohibiting of all muslim migration to the UK, which is 4-6 per cent higher for the same view for other ethnic and religious groups.

Researchers suggested that government and public figures should acknowledge there is lack of criticism of Islamophobia.

“No one is calling for laws regulating criticism of religion, but we have to recognise that the British public has been systematically miseducated about Islamic tradition and take steps to remedy this,” Jones recommended.