Opinion polls matter, particularly to politicians, and analysing UK polling data on immigration indicates a country that is hostile to immigration. But these surveys portray only initial responses, and public attitudes are usually more complex. Nor do polls throw light on how migrants and longer-settled residents interact with each other. The third part of Moving Up and Getting On looks at social encounters in neighbourhoods experiencing international migration, looking at how those who live in Peterborough, Wisbech and south London are managing this aspect of social change.

Chapter Ten provides an introduction to this part of the book. It starts by examining attitudes to immigration nationally and in the east of England and south London. Much recent concern about migration has focused on its perceived impact on the labour market and access to public goods such as social housing. The chapter argues that these attitudes are usually formed without much social interaction with migrants. The chapter then reviews theories of prejudice, focusing on social contact theory. It argues that meaningful social contact between migrant and longer-settled residents offers the possibility of renegotiating attitudes and of humanising the stranger.

Opinion polls and attitudes

Quantitative research, in the form of opinion polls, is a basic means by which attitudes to immigration can be measured. Analysis of this data suggests that public concerns about immigration have risen in most EU countries since about 1990, initially prompted by increased asylum migration. This trend has been particularly marked in the UK, where the change in public opinion has been in the intensity of these concerns. While the majority of the population in the UK has always had a preference for less immigration, what has changed is the intensity of this preference: after 2000, immigration has rarely dropped out of the top five issues facing the country (Figure 10.1).

Figure 10.1 shows the peaks and troughs that can often be attributed to the impact of national news on public opinion. For example, the peak in May 2006 was a likely consequence of the media reporting of the failure to remove foreign-national prisoners and the resignation of Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary. But the views of adults on immigration are not homogenous and more detailed survey analysis points to other important trends.