Almost Half of Britons Sometimes Feel Like They’re Living in Keir Starmer’s ‘Island of Strangers’

Almost half of Britons sometimes feel like a stranger in their own country – with home working and ‘failures in integration’ to blame.

A shock report has revealed plummeting social cohesion across the country, with half of those questioned saying they felt disconnected from society.

The survey of more than 13,000 adults was carried out just before Sir Keir Starmer provoked controversy by warning that without strict rules on migration ‘we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together’.

The research by pollsters More in Common, as part of a major project called This Place Matters, also found that the sense of isolation was not simply because of the UK’s changing population.

Asian British people were more likely to feel like strangers in their own country (47 per cent) than white Britons (44 per cent).

{snip}

The research also found that younger Britons were less trustful of other people.

Most of those questioned believed that a person can be British regardless of their ethnic background. But the majority (73 per cent) also said more needed to be done to encourage integration between people of different backgrounds.

The PM was forced to stand by his ‘island of strangers’ remark after he was accused of using language similar to Enoch Powell’s notorious 1968 ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech. Mr Powell had said the native British population had ‘found themselves made strangers in their own country’ because of mass immigration. Downing Street said there was no comparison between the phrases.

A separate poll by YouGov found 53 per cent of people agreed with the PM’s sentiment and half thought his language was ‘acceptable’. The survey also found there was little confidence that the Government will reduce immigration levels.

{snip}