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Britons are more likely to view Black Lives Matter as a force for good than ill, polling suggests.

Nearly half (46 per cent) of voters saw the movement as a force for good compared to 35 per cent who saw it as negative, the YouGov survey suggested.

The exclusive polling was carried out for a More In Common paper on the culture wars, a section of which has been seen by i ahead of the reports launch on Tuesday.

The organisation, set up in the wake of the extremist murder of MP Jo Cox, also found through focus groups that unlike the way in which BLM is discussed by those fighting culture wars, the public can and do make a distinction between the movement and the political organisation.

That distinction has been at the heart of recent rows over England footballers taking the knee before matches, in a gesture popularised by the BLM movement.

The players said they were doing it to protest against racism and discrimination, but several prominent right-wing figures denounced their stance.

Tory MP Lee Anderson boycotted all England games on the teams run to the Euro 2020 final this month because he believed taking the knee amounted to supporting an organisation with quite sinister motives.

But More In Commons seven focus groups across England last month found that people were able to distinguish between the political organisation, where they often disagreed with tactics and ideology, and the ethical argument of BLM, which found broad support.

The data also showed a more nuanced picture, with certain socioeconomic groups viewing BLM as a more negative force.

The report characterises Britons in seven socioeconomic groups: progressive activists, civic pragmatists, disengaged battlers, established liberals, loyal nationals, disengaged traditionalists and backbone conservatives.

The activists, civic pragmatists who are turned off by division in politics, battlers who feel they are just keeping their heads above water, and liberals all viewed BLM as a force for good to varying degrees.

Loyal nationals who are patriotic and anxious about threats facing Britain, traditionalists and conservatives all viewed BLM as a more negative force.

Overall though, 60 per cent of Britons said they felt exhausted by political divisions, and voters tended to dislike radical activism and tearing things down, instead preferring evolving and building on existing cultural norms, according to the paper.

This is also reflected in climate debates where most people support action to reach net zero but do not believe Extinction Rebellion has been a force for good.

Luke Tryl, UK director of, More in Common, said: In our conversations with Britons from across the country, they spoke passionately about the need to do more to tackle racism both on and offline and there was strong support for the message Black Lives Matter.

That doesnt make Britons Marxists or mean that they support all of BLMs tactics.

In fact, what was striking was that unlike the way in which BLM is discussed by those fighting culture wars, the public can and do make a distinction between the movement and the political organisation.

Most Britons want tackle prejudice and discrimination, but they want that to happen in a way that builds on our national story and looks at how we learn from the past, rather than tearing things down.

YouGov polled 2,000 Britons online in January 2021, in an exclusive poll commissioned jointly by More In Common and MHPC. More In Common carried out six CRD recruited focus groups in June 2021 in Stoke, Tyneside, Manchester, Bristol, London and Sussex.

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Britons are more likely to view Black Lives Matter as a force for good than ill, data shows - iNews