Dear friend,

We hope this finds you well.

Last week, the Prime Minister warned that Britain was at risk of becoming an ‘island of strangers’ in his speech about immigration and integration. 

Our new research - conducted weeks before the Prime Minister’s speech - suggests that many Britons share his sentiment: 44 per cent say that they sometimes feel like strangers in their own country.

But while the PM’s speech was related to immigration, our focus groups and polling find that challenges to social cohesion are far wider and deeper - driven by the cost of living, social media and technology, and the lingering impact of the pandemic. The sense of disconnect Starmer referred to is not shared evenly with a pernicious divide emerging between the wealthier and those who are less financially secure and the graduate class and those with fewer formal qualifications.

Working in partnership with UCL Policy Lab and Citizens UK, this research marks the start of a new project on social cohesion: This Place Matters. Our aim is to provide local and national governments with a blueprint for what an effective cohesion policy looks like, and to amplify the work of civic actors on the ground who are already doing so much to strengthen our social fabric.

'Strangers'

44 per cent of Britons say that they sometimes feel like strangers in their own country, while half (50 per cent) say they feel disconnected from society around them. In focus groups, people often say their communities are becoming less cohesive and that there is a tendency to ‘shut your door’ and withdraw from your local area.

“I think there's a sense of not wanting to do some things, shutting your door and not actually wanting to be involved with what's going on outside. And that really is not, these are villages (...) But they do lack some of the community spirit that was once there.”

Jayne, retired HR director, Cambridgeshire

One of the strongest predictors of this sense of disconnection is financial insecurity: Britons on lower incomes are far more likely to say that they feel like strangers, to feel disconnected, and to lack trust in their neighbours.

Two-thirds  (67 per cent)  of those who say that they struggle to make ends meet feel disconnected, compared to 37 per cent of those who describe themselves as financially comfortable. 

From focus groups, we know that Britons of all backgrounds feel the cost of living has deepened their experience of isolation, making socialising an unaffordable luxury. We often hear from people who feel that the spaces that once facilitated social connection - from the pub to the cinema - have now become too expensive. Recently, we spoke to someone in Runcorn who joked that you practically need a mortgage just to go to the cinema these days.

“I think it affects the fun things that you want to do, because your money's all going on your bills and all the boring stuff like food and gas and leccy and petrol so that, come to the end of it, you go, well what have we got money to do for ourselves now?”

Amy, teacher, Runcorn

For others, this sense of alienation is deepened by technology and social media. Many feel that smartphones have removed many of the incentives to socialise and meet others in person. Others talk about the fact that for some office jobs working from home means people are socialising less.

“Social media has disconnected us. You used to go around and grab a coffee with your mates. Now you just text them. And if you do go to a restaurant, you don’t talk, you just go on your phone.”

Jamie, builder, Dudley

There is also a worrying age gap in Britons’ sense of cohesion, with younger people feeling significantly less trusting. Only a third of those under the age of 25 say they believe that ‘most people can be trusted’, compared to a majority of those above the age of 55.

The research finds there is a clear link between disconnection and political fragmentation. Those who voted for Reform UK in 2024 are by far the most likely voter group to say that they feel like strangers in their own country, and the least likely to say that most people can be trusted. Green voters are also far more likely than other voter groups to feel disconnected.

On each of these measures of social connection, non-voters are also more likely to feel alienated.

The alienation Britons feel is undoubtedly connected to a broader sense that the country isn’t working. In focus groups, many cite closed shops on the high street and the loss of community facilities as visible symptoms of a broken system.

“When you talk about growth in Peterborough though... Peter has got loads bigger, but we've lost the showground, leisure centre, swimming pool (...) Who cares about growth if it's not good growth?”

Paul, teacher, Peterborough

And for many, this is evidence that our institutions are rigged. The overwhelming majority of Britons (74 per cent) think that the system is rigged to serve the rich and influential. Just 26 per cent are more likely to say that in the UK the system works for the majority of people.

There’s a divide here across levels of formal education: those who did not finish secondary school are the most likely to see the system as rigged, while those with postgraduate degrees are far more likely to think the system works for the majority of people.

An educational divide also emerges in people's sense of optimism about Britain’s future. Those who didn’t finish secondary school overwhelmingly (88 per cent)  believe that our best years are behind us. Those with postgraduate degrees appear to be emerging as outliers in their sense of optimism: they are the only group who believe that our best years are ahead of us.

But despite concerns about integration, most Britons share a sense of Britishness that is inclusive, and reject the notion that our national identity is linked to ethnicity. Seven in ten Britons think that a person can be British regardless of their ethnic background, a viewpoint that spans across age.

Find out more

Read my thread on the research here.

You can also find the full summary of our research and explore the data below:

As always, we’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts, and do forward this to anyone who might be interested.

Thanks and all the best, 

Luke Tryl
Executive Director
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