Well that's OK then!

The BBC's Political Editor in the Midlands, Patrick Burns,  writes to reassure us:

'"The indigenous population is due to be a minority in Leicester, London and Birmingham by the time of the 2011 Census."

That's what one contributor wrote in no less authoritative a forum than Wikipedia four years ago. And no wonder. This assertion has become almost commonplace, repeated so many times in such a wide range of more or less infuential reports and 'opinion' columns that it is increasingly seen as a safe assumption, little more than a statement of the obvious. Axiomatic.

There's just one problem. It's not true.

A report commissioned by Birmingham City Council from the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research (CCSR)at the University of Manchester forecasts that the city's White population will not fall below 50% of the total for another 15 years.

But what IS changing is the proportion of children aged under 16 who are of black and ethnic minorities. The CCSR say this figure has probably reached 50% already and is set to rise to about 64% by 2026. The demography of Birmingham means it can claim to be Europe's youngest city.'

Comments anyone...?