Third of 18-24 year-olds believe Jews have ‘unhealthy control’ of world’s banks

Over a third of young people aged 18-24 in the UK agree that Jewish people have “an unhealthy control over the world’s banking system”, according to a new research.

New research, conducted by anti-racism charity HOPE not Hate looking into attitudes and identity across UK society, confirmed that 34% of those questioned in the age bracket believed the statement about Jew and banking to be “probably” or “definitely” true.

Around 28 % of those survey in the 25-34 age bracket were shown to believe Jews have this “unhealthy” control over the world banking system.

This figure dropped to just 12% of those over 75 years old.

When questioned about Islam, and whether it represented a threat to British values, the same survey showed that older people were more likely to agree with this view, than younger.

HOPE Not Hate‘s Fear and Hope 2022 report looked at how the political opinions and identities have shifted across the UK. The group first conducted research in 2011, and repeated it again in 2016.

Analysing how beliefs differ amongst age groups, the survey’s authors conclude:”Shockingly, more than a third of 18-24s agree that Jewish people have an unhealthy control over the world’s banking system (34%).

“Again, it is important to reiterate that it is extremely unlikely that so many people in our poll hold these believes in any degree of high esteem.

“Nonetheless, there are significant age gaps in beliefs indicating a higher degree of openness to conspiracies in those under 35.”

They add:”Looking at the Fear and HOPE index, it is clear that while socially liberal beliefs are more common amongst the majority, there is a large cohort of young people who hold more reactionary views, and a smaller minority who hold even more extreme beliefs.”

The same section of the Fear and HOPE index 2022, also showed that younger people were more likely than the older generation to be believe Britain is institutionally racist.

They were also shown to be positive about the impact of immigration. Young people also proved the most accepting of Islam, with around 18 % suggesting the faith was a “threat to the British way of life.”

This compared to over 4O% of over 75 year-olds who supported the statement “Islam is generally a threat to the British way of life.”