London grows more racially divided

Racial divisions continue to expand in London:

White Britons are increasingly moving from London boroughs with large ethnic minority populations, a report from an immigration-monitoring group says.

Migrationwatch UK says the growth of some areas which are largely black and Asian is causing integration problems.

The study draws mainly on data from the 1991 and 2001 censuses and figures from the Office for National Statistics.

And here is how London's demographics have changed:

During the period 1993-2002, more than 600,000 more people moved out of London than came to it from elsewhere in the UK, the report says.

It also says 726,000 immigrants arrived in the capital.

"As international immigration into London and the South East has increased, so the outward migration of Londoners to other regions of the UK has accelerated," said Sir Andrew Green, chairman of Migrationwatch.

Migration from London was highest in areas with the largest ethnic minority populations such as Brent and Newham.

In these areas, ethnic minorities had become the majority between 1991 and 2001, the report said.

For example, 58% of Newham's population was white in 1991, compared with just 41% in 2001.

In Brent, the white population fell from 58% of the borough's total population in 1991 to 46% in 2001.

The report says that in contrast, internal UK migration both in and out of the London borough of Havering is "practically in balance".

The borough remained predominantly white (96%) in 2001 - just a small decrease from 1991 when it was "about 97% white", the report says.

Migrationwatch says the increasing concentration of ethnic minorities in some areas is creating specific difficulties both for London boroughs and areas of the UK where Londoners are moving.

"It places enormous stress on housing, education, health and social services in immigrant areas while at the same time the South West, South East and East Midlands are having to expand facilities rapidly to cater for the outflow from London," Sir Andrew said.

Families with young children were the most likely to move out of London, Migrationwatch said, with anecdotal evidence suggestion education was one reason for this.

As much as liberals may hate it, people prefer to live amongst those of a similar racial and ethnic background. This means that increasing immigration will only make a society more racially divided not less.