Number of people who say Britons must be born in UK is rising, study shows

"The number of people who believe Britishness is something you are born with has almost doubled in two years, according to research that warns of a rising tide of ethno-nationalism in Britain. Although a majority of the public still believe being British is rooted in shared values, a growing proportion see it as a product of ethnicity, birthplace and ancestry, according to analysis carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) and shared with the Guardian."

"Supporters of Nigel Farage's Reform UK held the most extreme views of any party backers, with 71% saying that having British ancestry was a prerequisite for someone to be truly British, and 59% saying they believed the nation was an ethnic, not a civic, community. Strikingly, the findings suggest a significant proportion of Farage's supporters believe being white is an important national characteristic, and that Britain has become too ethnically diverse."

Belief that Britishness is rooted in ethnicity, birthplace, and ancestry has increased substantially, with 36% saying a person must be born in Britain to be truly British, up from 19% in 2023. A YouGov poll for IPPR found growing support for ethnic definitions of national identity alongside continued majority support for civic, values-based Britishness. Supporters of Nigel Farage's Reform UK expressed the most exclusionary views: 71% said British ancestry was a prerequisite, 59% defined the nation as ethnic rather than civic, 37% would be prouder with fewer minority ethnic people, and 10% said white skin is important to be a good British citizen.

Read at www.theguardian.com