Written evidence from More in Common [CCI0037]
More in Common is a think tank and research agency founded in 2016 with the mission to tackle polarisation and division in the UK and across Western societies. We do this through helping our politicians, the media and our clients to better understand and navigate public opinion. More in Common takes its name from Jo Cox MP’s maiden speech in parliament.
As specialists in public opinion and social cohesion, we have spent nearly a decade exploring unity and division at a local and national level. Through extensive qualitative and quantitative research, we have built a depth of evidence on both the challenges and opportunities for strengthening social cohesion.
Our findings - outlined briefly below - have illuminated key risks to cohesion while also identifying strengths that the government could and should build upon.
Our research outlines a range of effective approaches to strengthening community cohesion:
● Respect Agenda: A key driver of polarisation is the sense of disrespect much of the public feels from the political establishment. The Respect Agenda can be both a guiding principle and a key test for the success or failure of the government’s cohesion strategy.
● Local and tangible improvements: Ensuring that economic growth has a place-based dimension and hyper-local impacts to help make meaningful progress on cohesion
● Higher expectations on integration: Many Britons perceive a failure in the UK’s integration. Social cohesion will be helped by developing clear expectations and responsibilities for newcomers arriving in Britain today.
Challenges to cohesion
Division and extremism
One of the clearest challenges to social cohesion in Britain is the widespread sense of division. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of Britons say the UK feels divided, and three in five (59%) feel exhausted by political division.
This sense of division is even more keenly felt by those who are financially struggling. People who often go without essentials or struggle to make ends meet are 29 percentage points more likely to view the UK as "very divided."
When asked where these divisions are most apparent, Britons identified economic inequality as the top concern - 53% cited the gap between rich and poor, followed by 37% who pointed to tensions between immigrants and those born in the UK.
Furthermore, the public are deeply concerned about extremism: a majority say that Islamist terrorism, racism and far-right terrorism are serious issues in the UK. This has eroded many Britons’ sense of safety: 3 in 10 think the UK is an unsafe place for Muslim and Jewish people.
Britons’ perceptions of extremism overlap, rather than being polarised by political attitudes: 75 percent of those concerned about Islamist extremism are also concerned about far-right extremism, and 68 percent are concerned about Islamophobia.
The UK’s challenge in building community cohesion exists within the context of a public that is increasingly pessimistic about the direction of the country, and dissatisfied with our institutions.
● Overall pessimism: 74 percent of Britons say that things are getting worse in the UK, while only 7 percent say they are getting better. This has risen considerably from 52 percent in September 2024.
● Political disillusionment: Three quarters (74) percent believe that the British Government is rigged to serve the rich and influential. Only a third of Britons (34 percent) think that democracy works for ordinary people, while 43 percent disagree.
● Declining social trust: 63 percent lean toward the view that ‘you can’t be too careful with most people’, while only 37 percent believe that ‘most people can be trusted’. This gap has widened by 10 percentage points since January 2024.
● Eroding faith in the social contract: Across a wide range of measures including finances, work and housing, younger Britons, and those who exhibit greater political disengagement - report lower life satisfaction. This is driving a decline in trust in the British system.
This malaise is most keenly felt by disengaged segments of the population, and often overlaps with economic insecurity.
"Out here we're all struggling. I see it every day. I see it in classrooms, I see it on the street, I see it in my husband's industry. I see it in people I talk to."
Paula, Banbury
“Communities are absolutely devastated by all the gun crime, the knife crime, the
gang related stuff going on. I've got young sons, you know, and we're always
concerned about what could happen to them. None of the issues locally are being
addressed by so-called leaders. So, I think there'd have to be something really drastic
to happen for me to put my faith back into politicians.”
Abbas, Leicester
The summer riots revealed a clear challenge facing British cohesion and revealed deep underlying fractures in British society, with violence and disruptions in communities across the country. More in Common's ‘Russian Dolls’ model categorized public perception into three groups:
● Supporters (approximately 8-10 percent): people who shared rioters’ views or sympathized with anti-refugee sentiment.
● Sympathizers (20 percent): People who opposed the riots but related to some concerns.
● Worried Majority (60 percent): People concerned about immigration but rejected the riots.
Our research highlighted that, while many Britons hold deep-seated concerns about immigration and integration, they condemned the riots unreservedly. 86 percent of Britons said that the rioters did not speak for them, and 87 percent agreed with the statement that “the people who have helped to clean up after the riots are ‘the real Britain’. We found that these views span across politics and views on immigration.
Strengthening social cohesion requires engaging the broader group of worried and sympathetic Britons, rather than focusing solely on those involved in or supporting the unrest - who are not reflective of wider attitudes.
“It is really, really sad how what happened last week has escalated to this and I feel a little bit like there's lots and lots of things going on and a group of people have decided that violence is what's going to, I dunno, is what's needed. And I think that that minority is taking the focus away from what it should be.”
Lucy, Shropshire
Social media and misinformation
Half of the public (48%) say that it is hard to figure out whether information is real or fake. A third (33 percent) say that they have personally been misled by fake information online, and 36 percent say they have witnessed friends or family members sharing fake information.
The public also feel that misinformation plays a role in undermining social cohesion, and exacerbating extremism. During the riots in August, people were more likely to ascribe the blame to misinformation on social media over any other cause.
“There's so much misinformation. I mean there's almost more misinformation than information and I think it gets really muddled and I've just become a real sceptic”
Alison, Weston-super-Mare
Disparate levels of trust in information sources
The prevalence of misinformation coincides with declining and uneven trust in traditional information sources. While public trust in the BBC remains a key strength of Britain’s social fabric, it is significantly lower among disengaged Britons.
● Our research has consistently found that these disengaged segments (see appendix for our segmentation model) feel alienated from traditional news sources and are the only groups with a negative net trust in the BBC.
● If trust in the BBC continues to erode among certain groups, it could weaken the cohesive benefits of an impartial national broadcaster.
Approaches to building community cohesion
More in Common’s research has consistently found that Britons consider “showing respect for ordinary people” to be the most important quality for the Government; 95 percent of Britons describe this as important, including 80 percent who describe it as ‘very important’.
Additionally, many Britons feel that respect has been separated with contribution to society - those who are ‘respected’ by political elites are those with a degree, who live in big cities and who are wealthy, whereas those who ‘keep the show on the road’ - such as care workers, retail workers and farmers - don’t get the respect that they deserve. This perception is particularly acute among young men drawn into the ‘manosphere’ because they feel disrespected by society.
Our ‘Respect MRP’ shows that there is a strong correlation between the premium people place on respect and the support for anti-system politics. Any strategy that aims to address the challenges to social cohesion caused by political disillusionment will need to translate the concept of respect into tangible policies that reward contribution.
“If politicians respected professions that were basically frontline workers during COVID, then
they would make changes. I don't just mean financial changes because, and I'm an NHS
worker, so I feel I can comment on this. There's only so much we can get off the government
financially in terms of getting pay increases and things like that, but I mean actual changes
to stop stress at work because there's not enough staff. There's actual changes that could
be made to the infrastructure of companies so that they would run properly. We're not
seeing those changes from politicians”
Emma, Glasgow
Local and tangible improvements
For economic growth to deliver a cohesion dividend, it has to be seen and experienced at the local level. A key thread evident throughout our research is that the public are far more positive when describing their local area than they are when describing the UK as a whole. Effective approaches to community cohesion must leverage this local pride.
One particularly significant lens for local cohesion is parks and green spaces, which tops the list of aspects of local areas that Britons are proud of - selected by 40 percent. In focus groups, people regularly share experiences of anti-social behaviour and vandalism in their local park or high street as examples of how cohesion has broken down. The sense of neglect increases anti-elite animus, while the decline of safe shared spaces makes it far more difficult to form meaningful community connections.
Local and place-based growth can be an important tool for ensuring that the government’s broader growth plans goes beyond lines on a graph and instead has a tangible impact in people’s lives, making them feel more positively about their communities.
“What’s the point in making the area look nice if it’s just going to end up getting vandalised
in a couple of months?
Ellie, Oldham
“I think increasing the investment on roads and maintenance. Fixing potholes is a major starting point.”
Bruce, Sheffield
Higher expectations on integration
The public want the government to set higher expectations - and provide greater support - for newcomers integrating to UK society.
53 percent of Britons support the Government providing support for refugees when it comes to learning English and finding work; only 20 percent oppose this. 73 percent of Britons believe that we need to do more to encourage integration between people of different ethnic backgrounds.
Britons see integration as an issue that is central to tackling extremism: asked what they think should be part of the Government’s policy on integration, the top priorities were ‘preventing public money from going to organisations deemed to be extremist’, ‘ensuring British law takes precedence over religious law’ and ‘deporting non-citizens who spread extremist ideology’.
Furthermore, Britons see this as a shared national responsibility: three quarters (77 percent) believe that integration is everyone’s responsibility, regardless of their ethnic group - rather than just something that minorities. That broad public mandate - and sense of responsibility for integration - should extend to how the Government approaches communities and cohesion.
Appendix 1: The British Seven segments
More in Common worked in collaboration with Climate Outreach, the European Climate Foundation (ECF) and YouGov to build a model that maps the British population not according to their party, age, income or other demographic factor, but according to their values and core beliefs. Analysing a representative sample of more than 10,000 people in partnership with YouGov and conducting focus group conversations and one-on-one interviews with hundreds of Britons, we have identified seven distinct population groups – the ‘British Seven’.
Progressive Activists (13 per cent of Britons) A passionate and vocal group for whom politics is at the core of their identity, and who seek to correct the historic marginalisation of groups based on their race, gender, sexuality, wealth, and other forms of privilege. They are politically engaged, critical, opinionated, frustrated, cosmopolitan, and environmentally conscious.
Civic Pragmatists (13 per cent of Britons) A group that cares about others, at home or abroad, and who are turned off by the divisiveness of politics. They are charitable, concerned, exhausted, community-minded, open to compromise, and socially liberal.
Disengaged Battlers (12 per cent of Britons): A group that feels that they are just keeping their heads above water, and who blame the system for its unfairness. They are tolerant, insecure, disillusioned, disconnected, overlooked, and socially liberal.
Established Liberals (12 per cent of Britons): A group that has done well and means well towards others, but also sees a lot of good in the status quo. They are comfortable, privileged, cosmopolitan, trusting, confident, and pro-market.
Loyal Nationals (17 per cent of Britons): A group that is anxious about the threats facing Britain and facing themselves. They are proud, patriotic, tribal, protective, threatened, aggrieved, and frustrated about the gap between the haves and the have-nots.
Disengaged Traditionalists (18 per cent of Britons): A group that values a well-ordered society, takes pride in hard work, and wants strong leadership that keeps people in line. They are self-reliant, ordered, patriotic, tough-minded, suspicious, and disconnected
Backbone Conservatives (15 per cent of Britons): A group who are proud of their country, optimistic about Britain’s future outside of Europe, and who keenly follow the news, mostly via traditional media sources. They are nostalgic, patriotic, stalwart, proud, secure, confident, and relatively engaged with politics.
January 2025