Many Young Britons do not Trust Muslims: BBC Radio 1 Survey

London: The BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat survey was carried out by pollsters Comres, after the soldier, Lee Rigby was murdered in the street in Woolwich, south east London, in May. Some 27% of the thousand 18 to 24-year-olds questioned said they did not trust them, while fewer than three in 10 (29%) thought Muslims were doing enough to tackle extremism in their communities. A similar proportion of the young people polled (28%) said, the country would be better off with fewer Muslims and almost half (44%), felt Muslims did not share the same values as everyone else.
Despite its findings on the degree to which Muslims were mistrusted, it showed that young adults were more likely to agree (48%) than disagree (27%) that Islam is a peaceful religion. They were also found to be divided over the question of whether immigration is good for the UK. Around two fifths (42%) believe it is a good thing, but more than a third disagree (35%), the survey showed. Terror groups operating in foreign countries were held responsible for Islamophobia in Britain by 26% of respondents, while 23% blamed the media and 21% placed the blame on UK Muslims who have committed terrorist acts. Of the young adults polled, 16% said they did not trust Hindus or Sikhs, 15% said they did not trust Jews, 13% mistrusted Buddhists and 12% did not trust Christians.