to be shocked that less than half of people in London are white

[Ilovecoffeeandchocolate]

I was reading the article below and was shocked to see how much this country especially London has changed over the last ten years and feel concerned that immigration is too high for what is an already overcrowded island especially in the south east!

www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/dec/11/census-2011-religion-race-education?intcmp=239

I love London and like the diversity but I do think the city is moving further and further away from the rest of the country and that cannot be a good thing. It should be a flagship and represent the nature of the the UK. It clearly doesn't. It feels like the whole of the country is bearing in on the south east in general and all our other cultural identity is getting lost whilst London's is just too diverse to be distinctive.

London has been an international city for a while and for this reason it's not very british. I'm a mixed white asian person and I don't feel like I'm in a minority or a majority - never have. I think what's changed is the european immigration and it's increased massively.

jeanvaljean Are you for real?

I don't know which London you were in 20 years ago but it doesn't fit the one I know and have lived in for nearly 40 years.

The rate of immigration is concerning due to limited space, according to the census 3.8 million people arrived here in the last ten years but 1.2 million between 1991 and 2000. - OP, you are making a large assumption here, that is that everyone who emigrates to the UK stays here. Of the people who are still here who were born overseas only 1.2 million arrived between 1991 2000 and 3.8million in the last ten years. This doesn't show if more than 1.2 million people moved to the UK between 1991 - 2000 and subsequently have left.

Not all immigrates are here to settle for a long term, for one example, the City is full of Americans, Canadians, Germans etc getting a couple of years of "London banking" experience on their CVs. Another example is the number of Aussies working in bars in London, I refuse to accept the majority will stay.

I personally would expect of those immigrates currently in the UK, the majority would have only been here for a couple of years, but then I know so many people who've worked abroad for 2-3 years (including DH), few people move for good.

Oh ignore me, I missed that HECTheHallsWithRowsAndFolly had got the stats to better make my point on page 3...

I really worry for the future of this country. It seems we are being turned into an "international trading hub", and a lot of our indigenous people are surplus to requirement. British people are too servile and trusting IMO, we should be more prepared to speak up and fight back.

wow. rivers of blood eh?

Where are u from? Anyone in London could've told u this. Why shocking? I kinda like it. U been here recently? London is wonderful, always was and always will be whatever the narrow minded DM types think.

London is for every body. I'm proud of her.

You see, I think we are a very overcrowded little island, however, this is a vast planet and no bit of it is anyone's to own. What gives any of us the right (as long as it's within the remit of law) to deny anyone?

I think it can only be a good thing that you could have a tube carriage full of people of all or any one colour yet have a host of languages, beliefs and cultures.

I recall in the 60s and 70s when it was completely normal amongst adults to talk about people of a different colour in a racist way (although often the perpetrators wouldn't class themselves as racist).

Of course it still happens. but it's much less common, simply because it's more commonplace to have people of different colour in our society.

What is so "wonderful" about London? I'm sure it's a nice place to live if you have lots of money, but for those of us that don't, it's not. "Wonderful" places don't tend to have riots like London did last year.

jean I'm not denying there has been a massive influx of immigrants in recent years but London has always been where immigrants headed historically,the French Hugenots,Jews all went to London. It has always been a hub of industry,creativity etc apart from the other UK cities.

I don't think there's anything wrong expressing surprise,but we should all bear in mind that white people are and always have been a world minority. Always have been,always will be.

The biggest growth in terms ethnic groups is I think mixed race people. I watched a documentary on mixed race people on ch4 last year,it was amazing. It was just to do with how the very different genes affect physical health etc but it was truly amazing. Heterozygous genes I think was the term.

I also watched a documentary on elderly mixed races couples and what they went through is terrible. It can only be a good thing that Britain becoming more diverse and therefore that the skin colour of who you love is becoming less and less of an issue.

Amber - which part of London are you from? I find it hard to believe you haven't seen the changes unless you're in an outlying or rarefied area. I stated the facts - my primary school is now entirely Indian/Pakistani. The area I now live in has 90% English as a foreign language at the local schools.

To those celebrating this level of immigration, I wonder if you would also advocate the same happening in Japan or India or Ghana. Would you be pleased about Japanese people comprising only 45% of the population in Tokyo? Or Delhi having a massive immigrant English population? If not, why not?

I havr only skim-read, so apologies if I repeat...but why are you 'shocked'? London is a huge, global city - a centre for immigration for reasons of business and commerce, as well as the 'immigration' people associate with refugees and asylum seekers.

There are many, many people here who a escaping war and genocide. There are also economic immgrants from the EU....and Aussies/Kiwis/South Africans bumming aroud doing bar work for a few years...and Indian doctors and Filipino nurses filling skills gaps...and Russian oligarchs / Saudi princes etc using London as a playground....oh, and many many hundreds of thousands of black British, Aasian-british, mixd race etc people who are BRITISH, just not white...etc etc

Is it just the non-white, visible and possibly poor 'non white Brits' you are worried about?

Whatever your issues....I dont understand why you are shocked, unless perhaps you are not from London or havent been here lately!

Perhaps the time will come for Delhi or Rio or some of the emerging world cities...but in a city like London, which has been a centre of commerce and economic propserity for centuries, it cant be a shock, surely? Baffling...

Is it me or has it suddenly got a bit ukippy in here?

Have some with your coffee and chocolate.

If you don't like it, emigrate.

Oh, wait.

How is it "wonderful"?

Learning new languages, learning about new cultures, new food, christ what would the British do with out curry

How isn't it wonderful ?

ouryve surprised there have been no "Britain isn't like it was,I'm off to Cananda" style posts yet entirely lacking in irony!

you can not double biscuit ourve it always looks likes boobs to me..

Why is everyone so PC on here. I have read comments on this topic in the papers and news sites and most people are fed up with the amount of people flooding the UK.

Also whenever I've watched crimewatch most of the "most wanted" are from other countries.

Here's the thing. I'm dark-skinned and my family is from a Middle Eastern, Muslim country - top of the shit list for a European country. However I actually come from a Christian minority in that country, and I've been exclusively educated in the West. So my religion, accent and beliefs are completely unacceptable "back home". There isn't anywhere people are willing to accept me as their own. Some people seem surprised at the conservative attitudes on parts of this thread but trust me, they're very common, probably as common in Europe as they are in Africa/Asia in my experience.

Fortunately most people won't read this far down a thread to discover my background, so hopefully I won't need a name change

They are my personal favourite alis

Spain it's lovely, full English fry up everyone speaks English.... not like England... .