Tebbit's cricket loyalty test hit for six (original) (raw)

A majority of black and Asian people in Britain see themselves as British, according to the first official figures on national identity published by the Office for National Statistics today, nearly 14 years after Norman (now Lord) Tebbit challenged the loyalty of the ethnic minorities by coining his "cricket test".

Four out of every five people from the black Caribbean community living in Britain described their national identity as British, English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish. Three-quarters of the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities identified them selves in the same way. Among people of mixed ethnic origins the figure was 87% and 81% in the "other black" category, those originating from outside Africa or the Caribbean. They included many born in Britain and describing their ethnicity as black British in recent official surveys.

The figures may finally lay to rest suspicions among sections of the white majority whipped up by Lord Tebbit when he suggested in April 1990 that immigrants and their children could not show loyalty to Britain until they supported the England team at cricket.

"A large proportion of Britain's Asian population fail to pass the cricket test. Which side do they cheer for? It's an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?" he said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

This attitude was further challenged by ONS data showing only 27% of people in Scotland described themselves as British, with the rest preferring to identify themselves as Scottish. In Wales 35% said they were British and 62% Welsh. Their loyalty to the England cricket team may also be questioned without impugning their patriotism.

The figures came in the first of a new series of online publications by the ONS. Reports on ethnicity and gender drew together data from official statistics and other reputable sources, some published for the first time today.

The ethnicity report showed the group least likely to identify themselves as British were those recording themselves as "other white", including Europeans and Americans. Less than 40% of this group said they were British, English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish.

Less than half the black African group and "other Asians" originating from outside the Indian subcontinent or China gave that answer. The figure for the Chinese community was 56%.

The ONS said: "People from the white British group were more likely to describe their national identity as English, rather than British. However, the opposite was true of the non-white groups, who were far more likely to identify themselves as British.

"For example, two-thirds (67%) of Bangladeshis said they were British, while only 6% said they were English, Scottish, Welsh or Irish."

Answers may have been influenced by the length of time people from different groups had lived in Britain.

Almost all the white British group were born in the UK, but among non-white groups the proportions born here declined with age. For example 83% of black Caribbeans aged 25 to 34 were born in the UK, compared with only 5% of those aged 45 to 64.

UK in 2004

· The white British and Indian communities are more likely than others to provide unpaid care for a relative

· Pakistani women are the least fit ethnic group in England and Wales

· Bangladeshi men are England's biggest smokers, with 44% using cigarettes

· In 2002, 77% of Chinese girls and 71% of Chinese boys in England got at least five good passes at GCSE.

· About 45% of non-white people live in London

· Nine in 10 lone parents in the UK are women