The new UK tribes: are you a rooted patriot or Waterstones dad?
While geographic identities like 'red wall' and 'blue wall' were used to explain the post-Brexit political landscape, the research by More in Common suggests cultural values have become a bigger dividing line than geography. Since the pandemic, British people have increasingly split along their views on multiculturalism, free speech and whether Britain should reform key institutions or 'burn the system down'.
While they remain trusting of their neighbours, 87 per cent have little or no trust in politicians. Some 36 per cent say the Covid pandemic was exaggerated to control people.
The report, based on polling of 20,000 people and dozens of focus groups around the country, alongside consultations with top Labour and Tory aides, suggests we remain deeply divided on how to fix Britain's problems.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
25 minutes ago
- BBC News
We're looking at further online safety rules, says minister
The government is considering further action to keep children safe online and will not "sit back and wait" on the issue, a cabinet minister has Secretary Heidi Alexander told the BBC new age-verification rules beginning later this month would have a "really important" said the regulations, to be overseen by media regulator Ofcom, would not be the "end of the conversation" on online boss Melanie Dawes vowed to rigorously enforce the new requirements, adding the regulator "means business". But she acknowledged Ofcom may require further legal powers in order to keep pace with the rapidly developing impact of artificial intelligence (AI). Under new powers introduced by the Online Safety Act and passed under the previous Tory government, Ofcom will require internet companies to conduct stricter age verification methods to check whether a user is under 18.A new code of practice, to apply from 25 July, will also require platforms to change algorithms affecting what is shown in children's feeds to filter out harmful the last election, Labour committed to "build on" the previous government's law and consider further measures to keep children it is yet to publish fresh legislation of its own, with ministers arguing the existing set of new regulations need to be rolled out first. 'Addictive habits' Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Alexander said the new rules would bring in "really robust safeguards" to ensure proper age she added: "We are very clear as a government that this is the foundation for a safer online experience for children, but it is not the end of the conversation".She said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle was looking at further action in a number of areas, including how to address "addictive habits" among children, although she did not provide further details."We're not going to be a government that sits back and waits on this, we want to address it," she added. Ofcom's chief executive told the programme the new rules would mean tech platforms would have to change their content algorithms "very significantly".Ms Dawes said the regulator would give websites some flexibility when deciding which age-verification tools to use, but pledged that those failing to put adequate checks in place "will hear from us with enforcement action".However, she acknowledged some newer forms of AI "may not" be covered be powers contained in the existing legislation."There may need to be some changes to the legislation to cover that," she added.
Powys County Times
36 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Racial disparities in criminal justice system ‘shameful'
Racial disparities in the criminal justice system are 'shameful' for London, the head of the Metropolitan Police said. Sir Mark Rowley spoke on Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips where he said racial disparity among suspects and victims of crime in the capital was a 'difficult' issue for the force. The Met Police Commissioner said there was a history between policing and black communities 'where policing has got a lot wrong, and we get a lot more right today'. 'But we do still make mistakes. That's not in doubt,' Sir Mark added. 'I'm being as relentless in that as it can be.' He continued: 'The vast majority of our people are good people. 'But that legacy, combined with the tragedy that some of this crime falls most heavily in black communities, that creates a real problem because the legacy creates concern.' 'It's not right that black boys growing up in London are more likely to be dead by the time they're 18, far more likely than white boys,' the commissioner said. 'That's, I think, shameful for the city. 'The challenge for us is, as we reach in to tackle those issues, that confrontation that comes from that reaching in, whether it's stop and search on the streets or the sort of operations you seek. 'The danger is that's landing in an environment with less trust. 'And that makes it even harder. But the people who win out of that, all of the criminals.' He added: 'I'm so determined to find a way to get past this because if policing in black communities can find a way to confront these issues, together we can give black boys growing up in London equal life chances to white boys, which is not what we're seeing at the moment.' 'And it's not simply about policing, is it?' he added. 'I think black boys are several times more likely to be excluded from school, for example, than white boys. 'And there are multiple issues layered on top of each other that feed into disproportionality.' Current efforts by the Metropolitan Police to tackle racial disparities in the criminal justice system are 'just not good enough', the shadow home secretary said. Asked about Sir Mark's comments on how the issue was 'difficult' for the force, Chris Philp told the same programme: 'I think the fact that black Londoners, particularly, we should be specific, mostly it's young men and indeed boys, I mean, down to the age of potentially as young as 13 or 14 … we have to do more. 'It's just not good enough. 'The fact that Labour and (Mayor of London) Sadiq Khan are causing the Metropolitan Police to shrink this year is deeply alarming in this context. 'Mark Rowley has said they're going to lose 1,500 police officers this year. Those are police officers who should be on the streets protecting all of London's community. 'That's extremely bad that Labour have done that to the police, but with the resources they have, there is more that should be done.' The police chief said the Met is a 'stretched service', but that people who call 999 can expect an officer to attend. 'If you are in the middle of the crisis and something awful is happening and you dial 999, officers will get there really quickly,' Sir Mark said. 'I don't pretend we're not a stretched service. 'We are smaller than I think we ought to be, but I don't want to give a sort of message of a lack of hope or a lack of determination.' 'I've seen the mayor and the Home Secretary fighting hard for police resourcing,' he added. 'It's not what I'd want it to be, but it's better than it might be without their efforts.' Sir Mark went on to say that the criminal justice system was 'close-to-broken' and can be 'frustrating' for officers. He said: 'The thing that is frustrating is that the system – and no system can be perfect – but when the system hasn't managed to turn that person's life around and get them on the straight and narrow, and it just becomes a revolving door. 'When that happens, of course that's frustrating for officers. 'So the more successful prisons and probation can be in terms of getting people onto a law-abiding life from the path they're on, the better. 'But that is a real challenge. I mean, we're talking just after Sir Brian Leveson put his report out about the close-to-broken criminal justice system. 'And it's absolutely vital that those repairs and reforms that he's talking about happen really quickly, because the system is now so stressed.' Sir Mark gave the example of Snaresbrook Crown Court in London, which he said had more than 100 cases listed for 2029. 'If it's someone on bail, then who might have stolen your phone or whatever and going in for a criminal court trial, that could be four years away. 'And that's pretty unacceptable, isn't it?' he added.
Sky News
40 minutes ago
- Sky News
Heidi Alexander says 'fairness' will be government's 'guiding principle' when it comes to taxes at next budget
Another hint that tax rises are coming in this autumn's budget has been given by a senior minister. Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was asked if Sir Keir Starmer and the rest of the cabinet had discussed hiking taxes in the wake of the government's failed welfare reforms, which were shot down by their own MPs. Trevor Phillips asked specifically if tax rises were discussed among the cabinet last week - including on an away day on Friday. Tax increases were not discussed "directly", Ms Alexander said, but ministers were "cognisant" of the challenges facing them. Asked what this means, Ms Alexander added: "I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn't recognise that at the budget, the chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out. "We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that." Ms Alexander said she wouldn't comment directly on taxes and the budget at this point, adding: "So, the chancellor will set her budget. I'm not going to sit in a TV studio today and speculate on what the contents of that budget might be. "When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle." Afterwards, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Phillips: "That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn." He then went on to repeat the Conservative attack lines that Labour are "crashing the economy". 10:43 Mr Philp then attacked the prime minister as "weak" for being unable to get his welfare reforms through the Commons. Discussions about potential tax rises have come to the fore after the government had to gut its welfare reforms. Sir Keir had wanted to change Personal Independence Payments (PIP), but a large Labour rebellion forced him to axe the changes. With the savings from these proposed changes - around £5bn - already worked into the government's sums, they will now need to find the money somewhere else. The general belief is that this will take the form of tax rises, rather than spending cuts, with more money needed for military spending commitments, as well as other areas of priority for the government, such as the NHS.
