London: More than nine out of ten white Britons have hardly any ethnic minority friends and the gulf between races and religions continue to widen in Britain more than four decades after it became a multi-cultural society, a poll indicated today (Jul 19, 2004).

According to the survey to be released this week by the Commission for Racial Equality, a majority of white people do not share the bonds of close friendship with their fellow black, Asian or Muslim Britons.

The poll found that 94 per cent of white people say that most or all their friends are of the same race, while 47 per cent of ethnic minorities say white people form all or most of their friends. More than half of white people, 54 per cent, said they did not have a single black or Asian person they considered a close friend.

More than eight out of ten white people have no friends who are practicing Muslims, and only one in 10 white people was close to a Hindu or Sikh.

Pollsters YouGov asked 2,065 white and 808 ethnic minority people aged over 18 for details of their closest 10 to 20 friends in an internet survey.

The CRE chairman Trevor Phillips said, "It surprised me the extent to which the majority community still does not really know minority communities." He said that the lack of close knowledge could lead white people to believe lurid tabloid headlines and racist propaganda.