'White flight' from city centres is getting worse, says equality chief Trevor Phillips

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White flight - the retreat of the white middle classes from city centres - is getting worse, the Government's race relations chief said yesterday.

The admission by Trevor Phillips was the first time a senior Whitehall figure has used the phrase.

Mr Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, backed the decision last week of the Bishop of Rochester, Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, to warn of the spread of "no-go areas" for non-Muslims.

He told Radio 4's Today programme: "There are areas in which there is no contact or very little contact between different ethnic and cultural groups.

"White flight is accelerating, schools are becoming more segregated. I think that the Bishop of Rochester was right to raise this."

The phenomenon has been seen in northern cities with a lot of Muslims, London and towns such as Reading and Bournemouth.

Sir Andrew Green, of the Migrationwatch think-tank, said: "This is another courageous contribution from Trevor Phillips. Massive levels of immigration are a significant factor."

Mr Phillips has condemned multiculturalism at the expense of social cohesion.