Census reveals third of Brighton and Hove residents have no link to UK

3:10pm Friday 14th December 2012 in News

More than a third of Brighton and Hove residents do not consider themselves to be in any way English, census data has revealed.

The 34.3 per cent of the city’s population that considers itself to have no English identity is only topped in Sussex by Crawley, where 35 per cent consider themselves to have no link.

The findings come from the second major release of data from the 2011 census.

In Brighton and Hove, 55.3 per cent of residents consider themselves English while a further 10.4 per cent said they were English and either British, Scottish, Irish or Welsh.

In comparison, just a few roads away in Adur, 20.5 per cent of people said they have no English identity.

Sian Bradford, a senior research officer at the Office for National Statistics, said that it was difficult to analyse the data.

She added: “As a general trend, the more rural the area, the more people likely to consider themselves English.

“However it is difficult to read too much into this data because this is the first time we have included a national identity question.”

English identity

Nationally, the highest percentage of the population with an English identity was found in the North East, with an average of 80.5 per cent.

The lowest percentage was found in London with just 38.3 per cent considering themselves English.

Geoffrey Bowden, the chair of Brighton and Hove City Council’s tourism and culture committee, welcomed the figures, describing them as “positive for the city”.

He added: “It shows that people of all backgrounds feel happy to settle here.

“I think we work very hard at community cohesion. It isn’t something that happens by accident - I think it is something to be very proud of.”

Huge changes

Tariq Jung, the chair of Brighton and Hove Muslim Forum, added that there had been huge changes since his family arrived in the city in the early 20th century.

He added: “On the whole the city is a very welcoming and friendly place.

“There have been problems but things have changed and continue to change.”

The two most English local authorities in Sussex are Rother and Wealden.

Just 20 per cent of people in Rother and 20.3 per cent in Wealden said they had no English link.

Ms Bradford added: “In the future we hope to link this type of data with the likes of ethnicity, so that we can analyse it.”

Fact File

One in five residents in Brighton and Hove were born outside England.

Only Crawley tops the city in Sussex for the highest percentage of foreign-born residents with almost one in four coming from outside the country.

In comparison 91.6% and 91.1% of residents living in Adur and Rother were born in England.

The changing face of Sussex was revealed this week following the second release of 2011 Census data.

The larger towns and cities were predictably the most multinational. However, there are some surprising trends.

Brighton and Hove appears to be a haven for people relocated from Jersey, with the city the second most popular per head of all the 348 local authorities. Nearly 200 island natives now call the city home.

The city is also popular with Europeans with above the national average of Spaniards, Italian, French and Germans moving here.

The Polish prefer Arun while those born in Africa head straight to Crawley. The borough’s 5,371 African-born residents is nearly twice the national average per head.

The town is also popular with those born in the Middle East and Asia, with 7,476 now calling Crawley home.

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Comments(29)

leobrighton says...
3:24pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Shocking but not surprising

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qm says...
3:43pm Fri 14 Dec 12

No mention of those little Green buggers that landed from the moon . . . . . .

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Hoarder12345444 says...
3:44pm Fri 14 Dec 12

It is shocking I think. Over a 3rd of the population do not consider themselves to be English. So thats a mix of people that live here that are immigrants. I really don't think that's right. For me, there are far too many foreigners living in Brighton and other cities in the country. I suspect this would not be the same in other european countries such as France, Spain and Germany and Italy.

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jeremy radvan says...
3:51pm Fri 14 Dec 12

I don't wish to point out the obvious, but I think that you will find that France, Spain, Germany and Italy are full of foreigners.

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PorkBoat says...
4:05pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Apparently this is A Very Good Thing, because it means we can all benefit from "diversity" and the "cultural enrichment" it brings. ie we can now buy yams at the corner shop and have an endless choice of kebab shops to choose from.

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minnie&teddy says...
4:13pm Fri 14 Dec 12

my intelligent late father predicted some years before he died in the seventys that we british people would one day be a minority and it seems he was right,we are true brits but don't actually feel that way when we see/hear all the foreigners in our daily life

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minnie&teddy says...
4:13pm Fri 14 Dec 12

my intelligent late father predicted some years before he died in the seventys that we british people would one day be a minority and it seems he was right,we are true brits but don't actually feel that way when we see/hear all the foreigners in our daily life

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roebtn says...
4:14pm Fri 14 Dec 12

jeremy radvan wrote:
I don't wish to point out the obvious, but I think that you will find that France, Spain, Germany and Italy are full of foreigners.
In the part of Spain I live in I think the Spanish are in the minority. It's a sign of the times where people are more mobile and can decide where to settle within Europe.

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mstrong says...
4:33pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Who are "we British people"? There's no such thing.

Even the English are actually Danes (Angles) if you go back far enough. How many generations does it take before yo're considered British enough.

Most people (including me) would consider me "British" but none of my grandparents were born in this country and only one of my parents. Am I British enough then?

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The Gnome says...
4:41pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Nice one, Hoarder - I guess you don't get to travel much. I think about 10% of Normandy is populated with Brits now and I'm sure it's the same in parts of Spain. Go to any major city in the world and the ethnic diversity is amazing - and part of what makes places what they are. Wherever people travel to, they should forget notions of cultural identity and just get on with living alongside everybody else. The same goes for residents who cling onto some rose-tinted notion of how lovely it used to be. The world has changed and there's no going back. Instead of clinging to old identities and beliefs, we should be forging new ones, relevant to where and who we are NOW.

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John Steed says...
4:54pm Fri 14 Dec 12

the figures are not accurate, the number of immigrants is significantly higher, It was normal on census night for private landlords not to declare lodgers also illegally rented structures sheds/garages etc etc and flats above takeaways did not get correctly returned census forms as many foreigners believe that the census documents being official would lead to police/immigration/H
MRC action

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nosolution says...
5:06pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Actually DNA analysis research has shown that until WW2 no type of people have added more than 5% or so to the genetic mix."We English are actually descended mostly from Celts hailing from the Basque area apart from those in the north where the Danes had more influence.Don't get me wrong ,I couldn't care less if the whole nation was foreign in recent origin so long as they don't expect a tiny country such as this to house and feed ( which we can't) any more than we do.One day the the oil will run out and a metropolitan( very little countryside) island that we are becoming will be snookered..

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Lady Smith says...
5:06pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Erm...is this not due to the fact that B&H has a high population of overseas students? #statingb***dingobvi
ous

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Chieftain11 says...
5:15pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Who gives a monkey's. If Ed Milliband is happy with it, what right has a nobody like me to criticize what is obvious EU policy. Get over it

http://www.yourlocal
guardian.co.uk/news/
local/wandsworthnews
/10110201.Ed_Miliban
d_launches_vision_fo
r_cultural_diversity
_in_Tooting/

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Struggler says...
5:59pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Firstly, let me state that yes I am a imigrant myself I came to this country nearly 20 years ago and love the place more than my own country. I am fully integrated here,have a british wife,have always worked hard and paid my taxes and dues. I have learned the language pulled my weight and never done anything wrong. Additionally, I have my own business now and therefore have a lot to be greatful for and thank this country. I now speak better english than my own language and always try to learn more about the history and the country. I feel more at home here in Brighton and Hove than anywhere else in the world and in fact am now going to apply for british citizenship (before anyone asks I have not done it earlier as it is rather expensive and was not in a position to do so and for the people saying it is way to easy- there are over 2000 questions to choose from out of those they pick 24 and one needs a passrate of 75% if you feel this is easy, they have some very obscure and strange questions in there which ALL of the english people I spoke to did not have a clue about. So I feel that I am very happy here and will stay here for ever and I certainly have not claimed benefits (once for a few months in 2004 admitedly) or been a burden or drain on the system. So please do not throw all imigrants or foreigners into the same pot as with everything there is always a small percentage of people that spoil it for everyone else and give genuine and hardworking people a bad name.

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inadaptado says...
6:06pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Struggler wrote:
Firstly, let me state that yes I am a imigrant myself I came to this country nearly 20 years ago and love the place more than my own country. I am fully integrated here,have a british wife,have always worked hard and paid my taxes and dues. I have learned the language pulled my weight and never done anything wrong. Additionally, I have my own business now and therefore have a lot to be greatful for and thank this country. I now speak better english than my own language and always try to learn more about the history and the country. I feel more at home here in Brighton and Hove than anywhere else in the world and in fact am now going to apply for british citizenship (before anyone asks I have not done it earlier as it is rather expensive and was not in a position to do so and for the people saying it is way to easy- there are over 2000 questions to choose from out of those they pick 24 and one needs a passrate of 75% if you feel this is easy, they have some very obscure and strange questions in there which ALL of the english people I spoke to did not have a clue about. So I feel that I am very happy here and will stay here for ever and I certainly have not claimed benefits (once for a few months in 2004 admitedly) or been a burden or drain on the system. So please do not throw all imigrants or foreigners into the same pot as with everything there is always a small percentage of people that spoil it for everyone else and give genuine and hardworking people a bad name.
Hear, hear!

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rayellerton says...
6:45pm Fri 14 Dec 12

So, these people don't wish to integrate and become British...fair enough...but would they kindly cut short their visit and make room for local families to live and cut our unemployed list?

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sussexram40 says...
7:26pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Isn't the article mixing up English and the UK. Title says one third have no link to UK but text says one third don't consider themselves English. Different things altogether. Welsh, Scots and N Irish people wouldn't consider themselves English.

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SGK2000 says...
8:57pm Fri 14 Dec 12

My Son was born & schooled in Brighton, joined the Forces for many years, came back to start a family but had to move to the cheaper option of Lancing but now, through break-up is back in Brighton only to be told he has 'no local connection' and therefore no help.

Slightly galling that nearby neighbours came to UK with intention of buying the council house they were given at the earliest opportunity.

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Somethingsarejustwrong says...
9:20pm Fri 14 Dec 12

SGK2000 wrote:
My Son was born & schooled in Brighton, joined the Forces for many years, came back to start a family but had to move to the cheaper option of Lancing but now, through break-up is back in Brighton only to be told he has 'no local connection' and therefore no help.

Slightly galling that nearby neighbours came to UK with intention of buying the council house they were given at the earliest opportunity.
Bigger issue is that anyone is given this sort of support.

Interestingly the funds come from somewhere, please ensure if you are scrounging that its not me!

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Algeria Touchshriek says...
10:03pm Fri 14 Dec 12

Well all the time the snot Greens give them a free house and a leather jacket, that's a third of the votes sorted.

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funkyyoyo says...
10:55pm Fri 14 Dec 12

i bet if the benefits system was taken away for them theyde scarper off!! this and previous governments have put others first before the british born and bred here!! the 'free cash machine' needs removing

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whereisthe...? says...
8:08am Sat 15 Dec 12

How about some stats on all the rich wan*ers who moved down from their London city trading jobs?? They are the most selfish people in this town - and I have many reasons to believe this would also account for about a third of the towns population. Guess you cant be racist towards them though, so the Argus wont print the facts about it..

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Maxwell's Ghost says...
9:05am Sat 15 Dec 12

If you go to Spain there are whole towns and villages wrecked by white British people who don't speak Spanish and refuse to integrate. It's an horrific experience in some places.

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Somethingsarejustwrong says...
9:11am Sat 15 Dec 12

whereisthe...? wrote:
How about some stats on all the rich wan*ers who moved down from their London city trading jobs?? They are the most selfish people in this town - and I have many reasons to believe this would also account for about a third of the towns population. Guess you cant be racist towards them though, so the Argus wont print the facts about it..
And the many reasons are?

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Dama 75 says...
9:47am Sat 15 Dec 12

Maxwell's Ghost wrote:
If you go to Spain there are whole towns and villages wrecked by white British people who don't speak Spanish and refuse to integrate. It's an horrific experience in some places.
Totally agree.There are whole villages that the population and even the local Council is british,the majority in the Costa del Sol ,and they don´t need to learn spanish because everything is in english... I´m pretty sure that they feel more british than the residents in the U.K!!

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mimseycal says...
10:10am Sat 15 Dec 12

Do I have links with the UK? Yup! I live here. Do I consider myself English? Nope! I am considered English by legal definition.

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PorkBoat says...
3:58pm Sat 15 Dec 12

Maxwell's Ghost wrote:
If you go to Spain there are whole towns and villages wrecked by white British people who don't speak Spanish and refuse to integrate. It's an horrific experience in some places.
Well don't go there then if it offends you that much.

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Somethingsarejustwrong says...
8:25am Sun 16 Dec 12

The data would have been more interesting if it included and could be cut to depict the mix receiving benefits.

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