Britain's cities to have white minorities in 30 years

Believe it or not, white people in some of Britain's largest cities are likely to dwindle to a minority in 30 years due to a boom in ethnic populations.

Yes, according to researchers, the proportion of white people in every region of Britain will fall between now and 2020, and Leicester, Birmingham, Luton and Slough, are to have minority whites by 2037, according to a report in The Daily Telegraph.

"Leicester will become the first plural city within 12 years, by 2019, followed by Birmingham in 2024. The next towns to experience the boom in ethnic populations will be Luton and Slough some time in the 2030s," the daily quoted Ludi Simpson, a social statistician at Manchester University, as saying.

In Birmingham, he said, Asians would emerge as a majority community by 2027. "The Pakistani population in Birmingham is likely to double by 2026, but with two-thirds of this increase due to the relatively younger age profile of Pakistanis, rather than increased immigration." However, Bradford and Oldham, often thought to have larger ethnic populations, will stay white for the foreseeable future, according to Prof Simpson.

In fact, Prof Simpson and his team of demographers made the predictions using detailed analysis of census and local authority data. "Britain's growing diversity is clear and measurable but it is not as focussed on a few cities as many people imagine. Diversity is apparent in suburban and rural neighbourhoods too."