Racial discrimination on the rise in Britain, study finds

A new study by the think tank British Future has found that racial discrimination is increasing in Britain and that progress on racial equality is being reversed. The report, based on the experiences of Britons of all backgrounds, suggests that almost half of ethnic minorities have faced prejudice because of their race or nationality in the past year, and a similar share believe racial equality is heading in the wrong direction.

The findings point to a deepening sense of unease. Almost 60% of ethnic minorities agreed that racial discrimination is common in everyday life, a view shared by 51% of white participants. Just under half of those from ethnic minorities said they had experienced prejudice in the last 12 months. The report also found that younger people are more likely to report discrimination than those aged over 65, and that online abuse is increasingly spilling into real life.

Personal stories in the report highlight the human toll. Minrit Kaur, who set up Asian Women Run to encourage women from her community to take up running, said incidents have become more hostile and aggressive since the anti-immigration protests outside hotels. Her mother, Pritpal, the oldest British Asian woman to run the marathon this year, was subjected to abuse on the road. Someone stepped on her foot, nudged her arm and said, "Why are you walking? You should be running." Minrit herself is often told to go back to where she came from, despite being born and bred in Britain. She said: "I think before they'd think it and they just wouldn't say it. Now they feel that they can."

Oladusin Majekodunmi, a teacher and poet, spoke of the return of rhetoric that echoes the 1960s and 1970s. He recalled arriving in Bromley, Kent, in 1964 as part of the second black family there, and now sees people questioning belonging again. His poetry responds to far-right protests in his local area and the role of politicians and media in fuelling such sentiment.

The report comes at a time when the "Overton window" has shifted, with ideas once considered extreme or marginal moving into everyday discourse. Some politicians and protesters are openly using language that was once seen as racist. Experts quoted in the study warn that if this momentum is not reversed, society risks normalising attacks on people in their homes. The study also notes a celebration of Afro hair and black identity in London, but the overall mood is one of alarm over a country running backwards on racial equality.