Summer ill at ease: last year’s riots across the country have seen researchers look into the lack of cohesion in society
Have we really lost our sense of community? Or are we all just people separated by our mobile devices? Our columnist ANDREW FISHER, right, looks at some interesting data from a piece of academic research
PLUS: Jeremy Corbyn stands up for allotments
It often feels like society is slowly falling apart – turn on the news, doomscroll through social media, or even read some good quality journalism (like Inside Croydon for example), and there are plenty of reasons for despair, locally and nationally.
Last summer saw riots break out in many parts of the country following the appalling murders of young children in Southport. Those riots were inflamed by misinformation on social media, amplified by some prominent politicians, that suggested the offender was a Muslim or an asylum seeker, or both. Neither was true – he was a deeply-troubled, British-born man known to social services and the police.
But those riots have led to some soul-searching and some interesting research by a coalition of academics and social researchers from the University College London policy lab, More in Common and Citizens UK. Their report, This Place Matters: reimagining community cohesion in Britain, has some interesting insights and sobering thoughts for those of every political persuasion.
In June, the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, tried to address this sense of dislocation with his “Island of Strangers” speech, which echoed the rhetoric of Enoch Powell and linked a sense of society becoming more isolated with rising migration. Starmer later said he regretted using the phrase.
Contrary to what the newspapers and Reform politicians might have you believe, the This Place Matters study also found that people of all ages across Britain believe a person can be British regardless of their ethnic background.
Likewise 74% of Britons said last summer’s rioters/protesters (delete to taste) did not speak for them, although among Reform voters, 51% said they did.
Important work: This Place Matters provides some real data on our society today
Interestingly, Conservative voters (77%) were marginally more likely than Labour voters (76%) to say they were not represented by those rioting/protesting.
Overall, 51% of Britons report feeling disconnected from society around them. The areas which saw riots last summer have some of the lowest reported levels of social connection.
This is not a feeling limited to white Britons either. Asian British people are the ethnic group most likely to feel “like a stranger in their country” (47%), more than white Britons (44%).
I know you’re thinking – all very interesting, but what about Croydon?
Well south London generally does better than north London (and better that the average across Britain), with Croydon South and Croydon East doing particularly well with relatively strong feelings of social connection (10th and 20th respectively out of 75 London constituencies).
Croydon East, where I’ve lived for nearly 20 years, does feel like a well-integrated community and I’m glad to see that reflected in this research.
Performing less well, however, are Streatham and Croydon North (45th) and Croydon West (54th). That may reflect a higher turnover of population – and I wouldn’t be surprised to find lower levels of social connection in areas with higher proportions of private rented properties (although it doesn’t appear the researchers have checked for that, so that is speculation on my part).
“When comparing levels of immigration and reported levels of cohesion, there is no strong relationship between the two,” the report says.
The researchers say, “Overall, we find that feelings of connectedness are higher in high-immigration areas where there are higher rates of multi-ethnic households – a good proxy for multi-ethnic integration.”
The last census showed Croydon (and south London generally) had one of the largest populations of people who identified as being from mixed or multiple ethnic groups.
Croydon, thankfully, did not suffer riots last summer and generally has good community relations.
But what is driving these feelings of social dislocation?
The researchers suggest that “activities and spaces that enable us to socialise are becoming more scarce” – not least because years of austerity have seen community centres cut, libraries close and social services pared back. Other reasons for this sense of dislocation and fragmentation include “technology and social media” limiting social interactions, and “the rise of remote working, which has reduced opportunities to build relationships with colleagues”.
The report concludes: “The findings reveal the urgent need for a renewed focus on strengthening societal bonds, community connections, and neighbourhood trust. More in Common found that a plurality of Britons feel disconnected from British society, mistrustful of institutions, and anxious about rising community tensions.”
Labour digs in
Digging in: the government’s announcement over the sale of allotments has given Jeremy Corbyn an opportunity to side with the public. Again
Another bit of community space at risk are allotments. With councils strapped for cash across the country, Angela Rayner’s communities and local government department has issued guidance saying it’s all right to flog off allotments to help balance the books.
Step forward veteran campaigner, ardent allotment-holder and new party-founder Jeremy Corbyn, who must have thanked his lucky stars for the opportunity to stand up for plucky community gardeners and protect local nature.
There’s a strong economic case against selling off allotments. It’s the equivalent of trying to pay the rent by flogging the furniture – you can only sell off allotments once, but costs like social care, libraries and children’s services continue, and continue to increase.
Talking of ludicrous economic plans, the wider situation is not helped by Rachel Reeves’ “iron-clad” fiscal rules which appear to be permanently tight for public services but extremely relaxed when it comes to the tens of billions of pounds more in military spending that has been announced.
Still, what community needs allotments when we’re getting more fighter jets? That’ll help community cohesion…
- From 2015 to 2019, Andrew Fisher was the Labour Party’s Director of Policy under Jeremy Corbyn
- Fisher is also the author of The Failed Experiment – and how to build an economy that works, and now writes columns for InsideCroydon, the i newspaper and is a regular pundit on BBC and Sky News programmes
As well as his column, Andrew is also conducting podcast interviews, in-depth and informed, with specialists and national figures, sharing their expertise with Croydon. The latest, with journalist and author Ian Dunt, is about how London is a success, and how the right cannot stand it. - It’s available now on Inside Croydon’s Spotify channel
Andrew Fisher’s recent columns:
- You can take Steve Reed to water, but you can’t make him think
- Vote for these benefit cuts and you deserve to lose your seat
- Labour’s task looks tough amid finance and membership woes
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
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I think inside Croydon is a valuable force of investigative journalism, uncovering corruption etc, however, I am becoming increasingly dismayed and disheartened that it is pushing its own political agenda – and not particularly subtly. If you are flagging an article as factual it should be that – the little comments that are the author’s bias writ large make it an opinion piece and it should labelled as such. You are, I think, falling into becoming propaganda for your own views rather than a balanced factual exposè (think the hat on the e is the wrong way round, soz).
The article is clearly labelled as a column, an opinion piece. Unlike your failed attempt at trying to post a comment anonymously, Angela.