Boards
58% of white working class people feel unrepresented and voiceless
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7279997.stm
I've no idea if a thread's been done on this and I found this very interesting and am interested in people's view on this.
It seems to me that this kind of research is very significant and shouldn't be ignored (although, at the same time, it also obviously shouldn't be taken as representative without further researchh
It strikes me that you can't hope to have a culture of equality and harmony and a fully-integrated and cohesive society if such a large core of people feel their views are being ignored and I think it raises big questions about the success of the UK's current attitude to multi-culturalism and racial integration.
What concerns me is that this level of dissatisfction obviously plays into the hands of the far-right and I really do think this is an issue that as a society we have to engage with and look at the reasons for (without jumping to kneejerk accusations of racism and ignorance) before the problem becomes deeper-rooted than it already is.
For my part I personally believe that the level of immigration is not the problem but that the manner in which the UK deals with immigration, misguided attempts at positive discrimination that have caused resentment and the absence of a wider sense of community and identity in Britain are all probably factors in what's brought about these figures.
Anyway, thoughts?