Religion now more divisive than race, says public

AT least four out of 10 Muslims do not believe that communities should be forced to integrate in Britain, according to a new poll.

It also found that religion has become a more divisive issue than race.

The survey for the Government's Equalities and Human Rights Commission revealed that more than half of the public believe it is likely that the UK will have a non-white prime minister within 20 years.

However, the black and Afro-Caribbean community, 56 per cent of which believe that the failings of the 1999 police inquiry into the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in south-east London in 1993 would still be repeated today, retain some reservations about progress in race relations.

But a greater number of people in all communities apart from Muslims believe that Britain has become more racially tolerant.

Commission chairman Trevor Phillips said: "It is heartening to recognise that here in Britain we have a sophisticated sense of our own identity and an appreciation and interest in difference.

"But we can't be complacent. The survey points to emerging religious divisions.

"And as we mark a darker moment in our own history, the 10th anniversary of the inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, it is clear the police still have work to do to convince our ethnic-minority communities they deserve their trust."