Luton, Slough and Newham in London are England's most ethnically diverse areas trends now
Towns and cities in England and Wales are more ethnically diverse and less segregated than ever before, according to a study published today.
Researchers analysing census ethnicity data over the last 20 years found more small local areas are home to a large number of ethnic groups living side by side.
London had the most 'rainbow' neighbourhoods, followed by Birmingham, Leicester, Slough, Watford, Luton and Manchester.
Meanwhile, the number of areas with 'very high levels of diversity' rose from 342 (1 per cent) in 2001 to 2,201 in 2021 (6 per cent).
This was partly down to the white British population falling by 1.1million over the last 20 years compared to an increase of 8.7m for other ethnicities.
One data point used by researchers was the Reciprocal Diversity Index (RDI), which looks at how diverse an area is on a scale from zero to 100. This compares the diversity of neighbourhoods in England and Wales in 2001 and 2021
Nigel Farage was among those to use the 2021 census to claim London, Birmingham and Manchester are now 'minority white cities'.
He was wrong for London and Manchester, but correct for Birmingham, where 48.6 per cent of residents said they were white.
However, the study authors argued that the 'majority-minority' argument was 'too blunt' and that these areas should instead be thought of as 'ethnically diverse'.
Study author Dr Gemma Catney, from Queen's University Belfast, told MailOnline: 'The problem with the Farage majority-minority claim is it homogenises multiple groups into one in a way that doesn't have meaning for anybody.
'During Covid, for example, the government recommended we stop
