London: Believe it or not, white people in some of Britain's largest cities are likely to dwindle to a minority in 30 years due to a boom in ethnic populations.
Yes, according to researchers, the proportion of white people in every region of Britain will fall between now and 2020, and Leicester, Birmingham, Luton and Slough, are to have minority whites by 2037, The Daily Telegraph reported on Saturday.
"Leicester will become the first plural city within 12 years, by 2019, followed by Birmingham in 2024. The next towns to experience the boom in ethnic populations will be Luton and Slough some time in the 2030s," the daily quoted Ludi Simpson, a social statistician at Manchester University, as saying.
In Birmingham, he said, Asians would emerge as a majority community by 2027. "The Pakistani population in Birmingham is likely to double by 2026, but with two-thirds of this increase due to the relatively younger age profile of Pakistanis, rather than increased immigration."
However, Bradford and Oldham, often thought to have larger ethnic populations, will stay white for the foreseeable future, according to Professor Simpson.
In fact, Professor Simpson and his team of demographers made the predictions using detailed analysis of census and local authority data. "Britain's growing diversity is clear and measurable but it is not as focussed on a few cities as many people imagine. Diversity is apparent in suburban and rural neighbourhoods too."
However, Professor Simpson and his team are reluctant to make forecasts for other cities.
"Most other cities are already diverse with many different ethnic minorities. Indeed, it is indisputable that, whether the whole of Britain or its city districts are considered, there will be more cultures represented in more equal numbers," he said.
According to government statistics, 35 towns and cities have at least one council ward which is "minority white". These include Birmingham, Slough, Bolton and Derby, as well as Brent, Tower Hamlets, Ealing and Newham in London.
London is forecast to be 39 per cent ethnic by 2021 and Bradford 38.2 per cent by 2030. And, according to experts at Leeds University, the proportion of whites in all parts of the country will fall between 2001 and 2020.
The biggest reduction will be in Greater London, where 64 per cent of people will be white by 2021, down from 71 per cent in 2001, they were quoted as saying.
When contacted, a spokesman for the Commission for Racial Equality said, "Because this prediction is just that, a prediction, there's no way of telling exactly when there will be a white minority in these towns and cities.
"Several cities are set to have a white minority within the next few years. This in itself is not a negative thing. The issue here is not one of percentages or numbers. What does matter is how well people interact."
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