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Hopes and Fears: The British Future State of the Nation Report 2012

The British are fully aware of the perils facing the British and European economies, but refuse to let that entirely dominate the year ahead, according to our report Hopes and Fears: The British Future State of the Nation Report 2012.

The public think the Jubilee will be better than the Olympics for Britain’s mood; Prince Philip and Sir Trevor McDonald top the poll for people who have been born outside Britain but contributed greatly to the country; and people in 2012 feel a strong connection to England, Scotland and Wales, as well as Britain.

Norman Tebbit once linked integration to cricket by famously asking, “Which side do they cheer for? It’s an interesting test. Are you still harking back to where you came from or where you are?” British Future’s poll (below) sees the public hit Tebbit’s cricket test for six with 60% of people saying that immigrants should cheer for whoever they want to. Most people (50%) also don’t want to insist that the children of immigrants cheer for British teams either.