WIDESPREAD public acceptance of Britain’s Muslim community runs alongside fears about the development of a divided society, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published on Saturday. It reveals that voters want Muslims to do more to integrate themselves into mainstream culture.

The poll, carried out in the wake of Jack Straw’s criticism of the full veil worn by some Muslim women, shows voters take a largely relaxed view of British Muslims, despite fears among some community leaders and politicians about social polarisation.

Britain may even be growing more tolerant, with young voters generally more supportive of Muslim opinion than older ones. But the poll also shows that tolerance is set against a clear belief that integration has not yet gone far enough. Only 22 per cent of voters think that British Muslims have done all they need to in order to fit into mainstream society.

A majority, 57 per cent, believe that Muslims have a responsibility to do more to achieve it. That view is reflected in public support for Mr Straw’s comments on the full veil, or niqab.

Writing last week about his experience in his Blackburn constituency, the Commons leader and former foreign secretary said the full veil was “a visible statement of separation and difference”. His remarks sparked controversy, with several ministers, including John Prescott, disagreeing.

Today’s poll shows that 53 per cent of voters think Mr Straw was right to suggest that the full veil creates a barrier between Muslim women and other people, with only 36 per cent believing he is wrong on the issue.

Mr Straw also won support this week from Harriet Harman, the constitutional affairs minister, who writes in the current issue of the New Statesman magazine that “if you want equality you have to be in society, not hidden away from it”.

She voices regret that women “whose mothers fought against the veil ... now see their daughters taking it up as a symbol of commitment to their religion”.

The poll shows that support for the full veil is stronger among women than men. A majority of men, 58 per cent, think Mr Straw was right to criticise the full veil, compared with a narrow minority of women, 49 per cent.

The responses also show a clear generational gap in social attitudes. Young people are much less concerned than their parents about Muslim integration. Only 31 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds, for example, back Mr Straw on the full veil.

That compares with 65% of over-65s. Overall, voters do not want to see a ban on the wearing of veils outside the home, with 74 per cent opposing restrictions and just 20 per cent saying they favour them.

Opposition to a ban is also stronger among young people than older citizens. Only 62 per cent of over-65s think a public ban on the wearing of the veil would be wrong, against 82 per cent of under-24s.

The research makes it clear that most voters are relaxed about Britain’s Muslim community, despite fears that threat of terrorism has fuelled intolerance.

An overwhelming majority of voters, 88 per cent, say they would not be anxious about sitting near someone who appears to be Muslim on a train or a

bus.

Only 7 per cent of those questioned said they would be anxious, with young voters even more relaxed than older ones.

Asked how they felt about the prospect of a Muslim family moving into a nearby house, a majority, 52 per cent, said they would have no strong opinion one way or the other.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service