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LONDON - New research shows the first British city where the white population finds itself in a minority will be Leicester, in about 12 years.
The conclusion by demographers from Manchester University - accompanied by a warning that recent plurality estimates will be reached sooner than predictions - is not helping attempts to establish harmony in the city.
Professor Ludi Simpson, a social statistician at the university, said that much of the increase in Leicester was due to the relatively young age profile of British Asians in the city - and the excess of births over deaths - rather than increased immigration.
The issue of plurality is one which has exercised social scientists of late and the new Commission for Racial Equality has been at pains to raise the issue.
Thirty-five towns and cities in Britain had at least one council ward which was "minority white", including Birmingham, Slough, Bolton and Derby.
- Independent
