The profile of Britons who hold more ethnocentric understandings of what it means to be British somewhat overlaps with many who participated in the recent riots which engulfed relatively left-behind parts of England. That is, members of the White British majority who tend to be older, who hold anti-establishment views, and who have spent less time in formal education. Some of those sentenced to prison over the violent unrest are well into their 60s, such as 69-year-old retired welder William Nelson Morgan. Separate to the riots, but relevant nonetheless, it was unemployed 66-year-old Andrew Leak who threw firebombs at an immigration processing centre in Dover back in October 2022.

Other European countries such as France, Germany, and the Netherlands have more coherent and influential hard-Right movements, in which younger intellectual “protectionists” play an influential role. The story in modern Britain is somewhat different, with the recent violent unrest being disorganised, fragmented, and spontaneous in nature — much of it the fury of radicalised indigenous middle-agers. They are a world apart from the cosmopolitan mindsets of many younger Britons, who in high numbers — socialised on modern university campuses — take a generally dimmer view of British history and hold relatively liberal views on immigration-induced diversity.

The recent public disorder across parts of England and the new data published by NatCen Social Research should be a major wake-up call. The anti-establishment frustrations of older citizens who feel culturally left behind by the British political classes on matters of immigration, identity, and demography need to be taken seriously. Whether the UK Government will act, rather than merely condemn, is another matter.