A survey by the University of Birmingham has found that Islamophobic views are more common in the middle and upper classes than among working-class groups. The findings featured in the report The Dinner Table Prejudice: Islamophobia in Contemporary Britain which investigated the social and political background of prejudice towards Islam, and called on government and civil society groups to address the “systematic miseducation about Islam” in British society.
The survey of 1667 people, taken in July last year, found that 23.2 per cent of respondents from the ABC1 social groups held prejudiced views of Islam, compared to 18.4 per cent of those from C2DE backgrounds. The National Readership Survey “Social Grade” defines ABC1 as those in administrative or professional employment, and C2DE as manual workers and the unemployed.
The survey also found that prejudiced views about ethnic and religious minorities in general were more common amongst men, older people, and Conservative and Leave voters. The political complexion to these views was striking, with nearly half of Conservative and Leave voters believing conspiracy theories about Sharia “no-go areas” and a majority agreeing that “Islam threatens the British way of life” – a statement with which 36.3 per cent of the whole sample agreed.
The report’s title refers to the 2011 claim of Baroness Warsi, the former chairwoman of the Conservative Party, that Islamophobia had “passed the dinner party test” and become socially acceptable. It come as the Tories face allegations from a former minister that her “Muslimness was raised as an issue” when she was sacked from the front bench.
The Prime Minister has ordered a Cabinet Office investigation into the claim.
Dr Stephen H Jones, the lead author of the survey, stressed that Islamophobia “stands out in the UK” from other forms of prejudice, and that “we have to recognise that the British public has been systematically miseducated about Islamic tradition”. Respondents generally acknowledged their ignorance of non-Christian religions, with more than half saying that they did not know how Jewish and Sikh scriptures were taught, but only 40.7 per cent said the same for Islam despite a higher proportion (21.1 per cent) wrongly assuming that the Qur’an is taught “totally literally”.
The report’s recommendations to combat Islamophobia include the inclusion of religious literacy into equality and diversity campaigns, and an emphasis on combatting intolerance in religious programming from broadcasters.