80 percent Britons favor less immigration-Survey

United Kingdom, 17th January: Nearly four out of five Brits are in favor of reducing the levels of immigration in the UK, findings of a latest survey reveal.

The recent poll undertaken by the Communities and Local Government Department reveals that there is an overwhelming demand for a big reduction in the UK immigration levels.

The findings state that while 78 percent of survey respondents agreed that the UK immigration levels must be reduced, around 19 percent stated that the present UK immigration levels should remain unchanged.

Around 50 percent of the UK population wants to see the number of immigrants coming to the UK to stay here to be cut by ‘a lot’. And around 24 percent want the UK immigration to be reduced ‘a little’.

Around three percent of survey respondents supported an increase in the UK immigration.

Around 22 percent of survey participants are of the opinion that they were getting bad treatment from public services due to racial discrimination. Around 7 percent English adults believed that religious or racial harassment was a major problem in their local areas.

According to chairman of UK think-tank Migrationwatch, Sir Andrew Green, the figures revealed that the immigration issue is of great concern for the Britons despite a host of other worries bothering them.

The survey findings are a warning bell to the UK immigration minister David Cameron and UK Home Secretary Theresa May to face frustration of the voters in case the Coalition fails to abide by its promises.

The critics are of the opinion that while the UK is allowing a large number of foreigners to work in the UK, around six million Britons are without any jobs in the country and hence surviving on unemployment benefits.

Last year, several UK ministers had reiterated to bring the levels of net migration down from the present level to the levels of 1990s equivalent to under 100,000 annually.

The survey involved 10,000 Britons apart from around 5,000 ethnic minority members and 1,200 Muslims between April and September 2010 before giving final conclusions.

The survey participants were asked queries regarding a range of issues like community cohesion, religious and racial prejudice, attitudes, discrimination, fear of crime, volunteering and influencing decisions.