A new report looking at how particular towns are becoming more segregated hasn’t told us something we didn’t already know.

The research, published by Open Democracy and conducted by Professor Ted Cantle and Professor Eric Kaufmann, shows that, while England as a whole is more ethnically mixed, white and minority groups are now more isolated from each other.

We have polarisation mainly in urban areas and it has gotten worse.

So, over the coming days we will look to have a debate on why this is. At least now we have an admission as such in the mainstream press that it isn’t Asian families forcing out white families and ‘colonising’ areas.

It is more the opposite.

When an Asian family moves in, white families tend to move out. It is quite clearly a pattern that has repeated itself over and over again.

The same happens when more and more Asian children move into a school.

Many Asians will see this as a casual form of racism. But this doesn’t explain the reasons why more affluent Asians tend to do the same thing.

There has been a growing number of Asians who find themselves wanting to move out of the inner city areas to more affluent middle class areas.

Nothing wrong with that you might say.

At the same time they are unlikely to send their children to schools with a predominantly Asian make-up.

We do this because of our misplaced assumption that the standard of education at a school where there are more Asians will be lower than elsewhere.

But it seems these Asians are finding themselves at the end of further segregation even though they have moved out of inner-city areas.

You will now find middle class areas made-up of predominantly Asian neighbourhoods. So the process is, in fact, being repeated.

There is also the issue of particular Asian communities wanting to live amongst their own.

For those growing up in the seventies and eighties, segregation was never really an issue.

We grew up alongside white neighbours and there was a mutual respect of each other’s lifestyles.

But there was a focus from some Asian communities to make sure they stayed within their own neighbourhoods where they could easily dictate what was and what was not permitted.

I also know of several Asian men who used to knock on the doors of white neighbours and ask them to let them know first if they ever felt like moving!

Sadly, this was a common occurrence.

The result of this has been how certain areas have become mini versions of the Middle East. Men and women dressing almost entirely in jubbas, shalwar kameez’s and jilbabs.

It is almost alien to see anyone wearing western dress.

Many of us might think it is not a bad thing but it is clearly a level of complete segregation brought on by the incessant need to keep one separated.

The idea being that you may be ‘tainted’ by non-Muslim culture in some way if you are put into contact with it.

We wanted Muslim schools with Muslim teachers with a Muslim ethos.

Those with this outlook are now, I would say, regretting how they sold this focus on segregation and separation to their brethren.

But there is, in fact, a bigger issue that needs to be looked at – how segregation is fueling ignorance in our children.

Schools have been very good in helping children understand other cultures. But they can only do so much.

Segregation is here to stay I’m afraid because we let it happen and we are still letting it happen.