British Pakistanis#Population

{{British Pakistanis}}

The earliest period of Asian migration to Britain has not been ascertained. It is known that Romani (Gypsy) groups such as the Romanichal and Kale arrived in the region during the Middle Ages, having originated from what is now North India and Pakistan and traveled westward to Europe via Southwest Asia around 1000 CE, intermingling with local populations over several centuries.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/9719058/European-Roma-descended-from-Indian-untouchables-genetic-study-shows.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/9719058/European-Roma-descended-from-Indian-untouchables-genetic-study-shows.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=European Roma descended from Indian 'untouchables', genetic study shows|work=The Telegraph|date=3 December 2012|access-date=30 July 2015|first=Dean|last=Nelson|quote=Later, they left to flee the fall of Hindu kingdoms in what is today Pakistan, with many setting off from near Gilgit.}}{{cbignore}}{{cite book|last1=Kelly|first1=Nataly|title=Found in Translation: How Language Shapes Our Lives and Transforms the World|date=2012|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=9781101611920|page=48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Glkd3p3ZxkC&pg=PT48|quote=Their roots date back to northern India and Pakistan in around 1000 CE. Invading forces pushed them from their homeland, starting a forced migration to today's Anatolia in western Turkey.}}{{cite book|last1=Reed|first1=Judy Hale|title=Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law (January 2014): Socio-Political Perspectives|date=2013|publisher=Institute for Migrant Rights Press|page=179|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZNxdAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA179|quote=Roma people originated from present-day India or Pakistan and migrated over a thousand years ago to Europe and other regions of the world.}}

Immigration from what is now Pakistan to the United Kingdom began long before Pakistan's independence in 1947. Muslim immigrants from Kashmir, Punjab, Sindh, the North-West Frontier and Balochistan and other parts of South Asia, arrived in the British Isles as early as the mid-seventeenth century as employees of the East India Company, typically as lashkars and sailors in British port cities.{{cite web|url=http://www.fathom.com/course/21701766/index.html |title=The First Asians in Britain |publisher=Fathom |access-date=29 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040411034742/http://www.fathom.com/course/21701766/index.html |archive-date=11 April 2004 }}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/history/uk_1.shtml|title=History of Islam in the UK|work=BBC - Religions|date=7 September 2009|access-date=15 October 2015}} These immigrants were often the first Asians to be seen in British port cities and were initially perceived as indolent due to their reliance on Christian charities.{{cite web |url=http://www.fathom.com/course/21701766/session3.html |title=British Attitudes towards the Immigrant Community |author=Fathom archive |publisher=Columbia University |access-date=4 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103132528/http://fathom.com/course/21701766/session3.html |archive-date=3 January 2011 |url-status=dead}} Despite this, some of the early Pakistani immigrants married local white British women because there were few South Asian women in Britain.{{Cite book|title=Counterflows to Colonialism: Indian Traveller and Settler in Britain 1600–1857|first=Michael Herbert|last=Fisher|year=2006|publisher=Orient Blackswan|isbn=81-7824-154-4|pages=111–9, 129–30, 140, 154–6, 160–8, 172}}

During the colonial era, Asians continued coming to Britain as seamen, traders, students, domestic workers, cricketers, political officials and visitors and some of them settled in the region.{{cite web|url=http://www.historytoday.com/bhikhu-parekh/south-asians-britain|title=South Asians in Britain|work=History Today|first=Bhikhu|last=Parekh|date=9 September 1997|access-date=30 July 2015}} South Asian seamen sometimes settled after ill- treatment or being abandoned by ship masters.{{Cite web|title = The Goan community of London - Port communities - Port Cities|url = http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.50/chapterId/739/The-Goan-community-of-London.html|website = portcities.org.uk|access-date = 24 February 2016|archive-date = 24 September 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924080151/http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.50/chapterId/739/The-Goan-community-of-London.html|url-status = dead}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.findmypast.co.uk/articles/world-records/full-list-of-united-kingdom-records/education-and-work-records/england-and-wales-merchant-navy-crew-lists-1861-1913|title = Find your ancestors in England & Wales Merchant Navy Crew Lists 1861-1913|website=Find My Past|access-date=11 July 2021}}

Many early Pakistanis came to the UK as scholars and studied at major British institutions, before later returning to British India. An example of such a person is Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah came to the UK in 1892 and began an apprenticeship at Graham's Shipping and Trading Company. After completing his apprenticeship, Jinnah joined Lincoln's Inn, where he trained as a barrister. At 19, he became the youngest person from South Asia to be called to the bar in Britain.D. N. Panigrahi, India's Partition: The Story of Imperialism in Retreat, 2004; Routledge, p. 16

Most early Pakistani settlers (then part of the British India Empire) and their families moved from port towns to the Midlands, as Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, many expatriates mainly hailing from the city of Mirpur worked in munitions factories in Birmingham. After the war, most of these early settlers stayed on in the region and took advantage of an increase in the number of jobs.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1500344/Links-to-Britain-forged-by-war-and-Partition.html |title=Links to Britain forged by war and Partition |author=Marco Giannangeli |date= 10 October 2005|work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=31 October 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308133938/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1500344/Links-to-Britain-forged-by-war-and-Partition.html|archivedate=8 March 2021}} These settlers were later joined by their families.{{cite book|last1=Ember|first1=Melvin|title=Encyclopedia of Diasporas: Immigrant and Refugee Cultures Around the World. Volume I: Overviews and Topics; Volume II: Diaspora Communities, Volume 1|date=2005|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=9780306483219|last2=Ember|first2=Carol R.|last3=Skoggard|first3=Ian}}

In 1932, the Indian National Congress survey of 'all Indians outside India' (of which Pakistani regions were then a part) estimated that there were 7,128 Indians in the United Kingdom.{{Cite book|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-5pGCgAAQBAJ&q=estimated+that+there&pg=PT138|title = Ayahs, Lascars and Princes: The Story of Indians in Britain 1700-1947|date = 30 July 2015|isbn = 9781317415336|last1 = Visram|first1 = Rozina|publisher=Routledge}}

There were 832,500 Muslim Indian soldiers in 1945; most of these recruits were from what is now Pakistan.{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5621PL20090703?sp=true |title="Untold" story of WW2 stirs Muslim youth pride |author=Sophie Hares |date=3 July 2009 |work=Reuters |access-date=29 April 2010}} These soldiers fought alongside the British Army during the First and Second World Wars, particularly in the former during the Western Front and in the latter, during the Battle of France, the North African Campaign and the Burma Campaign. Many contributed to the war effort as skilled labourers, including as assembly-line workers in the aircraft factory at Castle Bromwich, Birmingham, which produced Spitfire fighter aircraft. Most returned to South Asia after their service, although many of these former soldiers returned to Britain in the 1950s and 1960s to fill labour shortages.

Following the Second World War, the break-up of the British Empire and the independence of Pakistan, Pakistani immigration to the United Kingdom increased, especially during the 1950s and 1960s. Many Pakistanis came to the UK following the turmoil during the partition of India and Pakistani independence. Among them were those who migrated to Pakistan upon displacement from India and then migrated to the UK; thus becoming secondary migrants.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/untold_stories/asian/pakistani_community.shtml|title=The Pakistani Community|work=BBC|date=24 September 2014|access-date=4 October 2014}} Migration was made easier as Pakistan was a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Employers invited Pakistanis to fill labour shortages which arose in Britain after the Second World War.

As Commonwealth citizens, they were eligible for most British civic rights. They found employment in the textile industries of Lancashire and Yorkshire, manufacturing in the West Midlands and the car production and food processing industries of Luton and Slough. It was common for Pakistani employees to work on night shifts and other less desirable hours.{{cite web |author1=Robin Richardson |author2=Angela Wood |title=The Achievement of British Pakistani Learners |url=http://www.insted.co.uk/raising2005.pdf |publisher=Trentham Books |pages=2, 1–17}}

Many expatriates began emigrating from Pakistan after the completion of the Mangla Dam in Mirpur, Azad Kashmir, in the late-1950s led to the destruction of hundreds of villages. Up to 5,000 people from Mirpur (5% of the displaced){{cite web |url=http://www.islamfortoday.com/britain.htm |title=Muslims in Britain: Past And Present |publisher=Islamfortoday.com |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100324181858/http://www.islamfortoday.com/britain.htm |archive-date=24 March 2010 |url-status=dead}} left for Britain, while others were allotted land in neighbouring Punjab or used monetary compensation to resettle elsewhere in Pakistan. The British contractor which had built the dam gave the displaced community legal and financial assistance.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_pGGU0cOT4C&q=Mangla+Dam+and+immigration+5,000&pg=PA30 |title=Kinship and continuity: Pakistani families in Britain |pages=26–32 |publisher= Routledge |access-date=27 April 2010|isbn=978-90-5823-076-8|year=2000}} Those from unaffected areas of Pakistan, such as the Punjab, also emigrated to the UK to help fill labour shortages. Pakistanis began leaving Pakistan in the 1960s. They worked in the foundries of the English Midlands and a significant number also settled in Southall, West London.{{cite web |url=http://sites.google.com/site/pwerbner/PakistaniDiasporaEncyclopedia.PDF |title=Pakistani Migration and Diaspora Religious Politics in a Global Age |author=Pnina Werbner |pages=476–478 |publisher=Keele University |access-date=20 February 2011 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

During the 1960s, a considerable number of Pakistanis also arrived from urban areas. Many of them were qualified teachers, doctors and engineers. They had a predisposition to settle in London because of its greater employment opportunities compared to the Midlands or the North of England. Most medical staff from Pakistan were recruited in the 1960s and almost all worked for the National Health Service.{{cite web|author=Museum of London |url=http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/Collections/Onlineresources/RWWC/themes/1084/1193 |title=subject home |publisher=Museum of London |date=21 September 2004 |access-date=27 April 2010}} At the same time, the number of Pakistanis coming over as workers declined.

In addition, there was a stream of migrants from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).{{cite book|last1=Fox|first1=Susan|title=The New Cockney: New Ethnicities and Adolescent Speech in the Traditional East End of London|date=2015|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9781137503992}} During the 1970s, many East African Asians, most of whom already held British passports because they were brought to Africa by British colonialists, entered the UK from Kenya and Uganda. Idi Amin expelled all Ugandan Asians in 1972 because of his Black supremacist views and the perception that they were responsible for the country's economic stagnation.{{cite web|url=http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/asians-east-africa-tf/|title=Asians: East Africa|author=Bizeck J.Phiri|access-date=20 February 2011|website=BookRags|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629172424/http://www.bookrags.com/tandf/asians-east-africa-tf/|archive-date=29 June 2011|url-status=dead}} The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 and Immigration Act 1971 largely restricted any further primary immigration to the UK, although family members of already-settled immigrants were allowed to join their relatives.{{cite web |url=http://www.minorityrights.org/5415/united-kingdom/east-african-asians.html |title=East African Asians |author=Minority Rights Group |website=Minorityrights.org|access-date=20 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203005131/http://www.minorityrights.org/5415/united-kingdom/east-african-asians.html |archive-date=3 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}

The early Pakistani workers who entered the UK came intending to work temporarily and eventually returning home. However, this changed into permanent family immigration after the 1962 Act, as well as socio-economic circumstances and the future of their children, which most families saw lay in Britain.

When the UK experienced deindustrialisation in the 1970s, many British Pakistanis became unemployed. The change from the manufacturing sector to the service sector was difficult for ethnic minorities and working-class White Britons alike; especially for those with little academic education. The Midlands and North of England were areas which were heavily reliant on manufacturing industries and the effects of deindustrialisation continued to be felt in these areas.Ethnic Minorities and Industrial Change in Europe and North America, Malcolm Cross (ed), PP: 226–250, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1992 As a result, increasing numbers of British Pakistanis resorted to self-employment. National statistics from 2004 showed that one in seven British Pakistani men work as taxi drivers or chauffeurs.{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=463 |title=National Statistics Online – Employment Patterns |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=21 February 2006 |access-date=27 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501051546/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=463 |archive-date=1 May 2008}} Whilst social issues include high relative poverty rates (55%) among the community according to the 2001 census, progress has been made in recent years, however British Pakistanis alongside British Bangladeshis are still the most likely ethnicity groups to have the highest rates of poverty.{{cite web |last1=Francis-Devine |first1=Brigid |title=Poverty in the UK: Statistics |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN07096/SN07096.pdf |publisher=House of Commons Library |access-date=8 April 2024}} Despite relatively high levels of home ownership, 48 per cent of Pakistani households were classified as in poverty after housing costs in the three-year period to 2022/23. The equivalent figure for child poverty in Pakistani households stood at 58 per cent.

File:British Pakistanis, 2021 UK Census.png

File:Asian Pakistani population pyramid 2021.svg

File:British Pakistanis by Country of Birth, 2021 Census.png

According to the 2021 Census, Pakistanis in England and Wales enumerated 1,587,819 or 2.7% of the population. According to estimates by the Office for National Statistics, the number of people born in Pakistan living in the UK in 2021 was 456,000, which makes it the third most common country of birth in the UK.{{Cite web |title=Population of the UK by country of birth and nationality - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/populationoftheunitedkingdombycountryofbirthandnationality |access-date=2022-09-14 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}

The ten local authorities with the largest proportion of people who identified as Pakistani were: Pendle (25.59%), Bradford (25.54%), Slough (21.65%), Luton (18.26%), Blackburn with Darwen (17.79%), Birmingham (17.04%), Redbridge (14.18%), Rochdale (13.64%), Oldham (13.55%) and Hyndburn (13.16%). In Scotland, the highest proportion was in East Renfrewshire at 5.25%; in Wales, the highest concentration was in Newport at 3.01%; and in Northern Ireland, the highest concentration was in Belfast at 0.14%.{{Cite web |title=Ethnic group - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/1/filter-outputs/24422250-263c-4b84-8dd4-6159ee18b8e6#get-data |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}

The Pakistan government's Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis estimates that 1.26 million Pakistanis eligible for dual nationality live in the UK, constituting well over half of the total number of Pakistanis in Europe.{{cite web |url=http://www.idea.int/resources/analysis/upload/Abbasi_low_2-2.pdf |title=The Pakistani Diaspora in Europe and Its Impact on Democracy Building in Pakistan |author=Nadia Mushtaq Abbasi |page=5 |publisher=International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance |access-date=2 November 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100821142808/http://www.idea.int/resources/analysis/upload/Abbasi_low_2-2.pdf |archive-date=21 August 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-16007-Where-expatriates-who-reach-the-top-come-from|title=Where expatriates who reach the top come from|work=The News|first=Umar|last=Cheema|date=12 July 2012|access-date=17 August 2014}} Up to 250,000 Pakistanis come to the UK each year, for work, to visit or other purposes.{{cite news |date=16 April 2009 |title=The immigration superhighway |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://www.economist.com/node/13497357 |access-date=17 August 2014}} Likewise, up to 270,000 British citizens travel to Pakistan each year, mainly to visit family.{{cite web |date=10 August 2014 |title=Foreign travel advice: Pakistan |url=https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/pakistan |access-date=17 August 2014 |work=Government of the United Kingdom}} Excluding British citizens of Pakistani descent, the number of individuals living in the UK with a Pakistani passport was estimated at 188,000 in 2017, making Pakistan the eighth most common non-British nationality in the UK.{{cite news |last=Shah |first=Murtaza Ali |date=25 May 2018 |title=Pakistanis eighth highest number of non-British nationals living in UK |work=The News |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/320965-pakistanis-eighth-highest-number-of-non-british-nationals-living-in-uk |access-date=9 May 2020}}

The majority of British Pakistanis originate from the Azad Kashmir and Punjab regions, with a smaller number from other parts of Pakistan including Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan.{{cite web |author=Department for Communities and Local Government |title=The Pakistani Muslim Community in England |url=http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/1170952.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120919132719/http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/communities/pdf/1170952.pdf |archive-date=19 September 2012 |access-date=2 November 2010 |publisher=Department for Communities and Local Government |pages=5–11 (6), 36–41 |quote=In London the community is more mixed and includes comparable numbers of Punjabis, Pathans and Kashmiris. There are also small communities of Sindhis and Balochis in London.}}{{cite web |url=http://www.insted.co.uk/raise.html |title=The raise project |author=Instead |publisher=Yorkshire Forward |access-date=20 December 2010}}{{cite news|url=http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-40220620090610 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613060925/http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-40220620090610 |url-status=dead |archive-date=13 June 2009 |title=FEATURE – Support for Taliban dives among British Pashtuns |work=Reuters |date=10 June 2009 |access-date=27 April 2010}}

The cities or districts with the largest communities, by Pakistani ethnicity in the England and Wales 2021 census, are as follows: Birmingham (pop. 195,102), Bradford (139,553), Manchester (65,875), Kirklees (54,795), Redbridge (44,000) and Luton (41,143).{{Cite web |title=Ethnic group, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/bulletins/ethnicgroupenglandandwales/census2021 |access-date=2023-04-24 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}

In the 2011 UK Census, 1,174,983 residents classified themselves as ethnically Pakistani (excluding people of mixed ethnicity), regardless of their birthplace; 1,112,212 of them lived in England. This represented an increase of 427,000 over the 747,285 residents recorded in the 2001 UK Census.{{cite news |date=8 January 2004 |title=Population size: 7.9% from a non-White ethnic group |publisher=Office for National Statistics |url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=455 |access-date=22 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040619124235/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=455 |archive-date=19 June 2004}}

Demographer Ceri Peach has estimated the number of British Pakistanis in the 1951 to 1991 censuses. He back-projected the ethnic composition of the 2001 census to the estimated minority populations during previous census years. The results are as follows:

{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption=Birthplace/year of arrival of British Pakistanis in England and Wales (2021 census){{Cite web |title=Ethnic group and year of arrival in the uk - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/create/filter-outputs/3b1e01ff-adfa-4048-ad0a-9a305cde51d6 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}|label1=Born in the UK|value1=59.2|color1=DodgerBlue|label2=Before 1950|value2=0.0|color2=Gray|label3=1951 to 1960|value3=0.3|color3=Green|label4=1961 to 1970|value4=3.1|color4=DarkOrange|label5=1971 to 1980|value5=3.9|color5=DarkKhaki|label6=1981 to 1990|value6=3.4|label7=1991 to 2000|value7=5.7|color7=Gold|label8=2001 to 2010|value8=10.5|color8=Chartreuse|label9=2011 to 2021|value9=13.9|color9=DarkRed}}At the time of the 2021 Census, the local authorities with the largest proportion of British Pakistanis were Pendle (25.59%), Bradford (25.54%), Slough (21.65%), Luton (18.26%) and Blackburn with Darwen (17.79%). The distribution of people describing their ethnicity as Pakistani in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland was as follows:

File:380.800 BRITISH AIRWAYS G-XLEG 161 LIVRAISON 11 09 14 TLS (16678207750).jpg was reported as one of Imran Khan's greatest achievements.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/bdf9742e-84e5-11e9-97ea-05ac2431f453|title=British Airways set to resume flights to Pakistan in victory for Khan|newspaper=Financial Times|date=2 June 2019|last1=Findlay|first1=Stephanie|last2=Bokhari|first2=Farhan}}]]

{{Main|Pakistani community of London}}

Greater London has the largest Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. The 2021 Census recorded 290,549 Pakistanis living in London. However, it only forms 3.3% of London's population, which is significantly lower than other British cities. The population is very diverse, with comparable numbers of Punjabis, Pashtuns and Muhajirs, and smaller communities of Sindhis and Balochs. This mix makes the Pakistani community of London more diverse than other UK communities, whereas a high proportion of Pakistani communities in Northern England came from Azad Kashmir.

The largest concentrations are in East London, especially in Redbridge, Waltham Forest, Newham and Barking and Dagenham. Significant communities can also be found in the boroughs of Ealing, Hounslow, and Hillingdon in West London and Merton, Wandsworth and Croydon in South London.{{Cite web |title=Ethnic group - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS021/editions/2021/versions/1/filter-outputs/d21c8feb-6c68-4305-a1f3-1b87edd88045#get-data |access-date=2023-01-03 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}

Birmingham has the second-largest Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. The 2021 Census recorded that there were 195,102 Pakistanis living in Birmingham, making up 17% of the city's total population.

The largest concentrations are in Sparkhill, Alum Rock, Small Heath and Sparkbrook.{{Cite web |last=Council |first=Birmingham City |title=Community health profiles |url=https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/info/50265/supporting_healthier_communities/2463/community_health_profiles/9 |access-date=2023-01-08 |website=www.birmingham.gov.uk |language=en}}

File:Bradford Cityscape.JPG, in the north of England, is considered to be a typical "mill and mosque town" due to its large Pakistani community.]]

Bradford has the third-largest Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. The 2021 Census recorded 139,553 Pakistanis, making up 25.5% of the city's total population.

The largest concentrations are in Manningham, Toller, Bradford Moor, Heaton, Little Horton and Keighley.

File:Curry Mile in Rusholme.jpg on Wilmslow Road in Manchester is home to a myriad of Pakistani bakers, delicatessens and handmade jewellery in addition to several halal restaurants and take-aways.]]

Manchester has the fourth-largest Pakistani community in the United Kingdom. The 2021 Census recorded 65,875 Pakistanis, making up 11.9% of the city's total population.

The largest concentrations are in Longsight, Cheetham Hill, Rusholme and Crumpsall.

In the wider area of Greater Manchester, there were 209,061 Pakistanis, making up 7.3% of the population. The towns of Oldham and Rochdale have significant Pakistani populations, at 13.5% and 13.6% respectively.

A significant number of Manchester-based Pakistani business families have moved down the A34 road to live in the affluent Heald Green area.{{cite web |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/asiannews/news/s/491592_violent_racists_menace_affluent_suburb |title=Violent racists menace affluent suburb |author=Asian News |access-date=23 December 2010 |archive-date=12 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112164738/http://menmedia.co.uk/asiannews/news/s/491592_violent_racists_menace_affluent_suburb |url-status=dead }} The late Professor Pnina Werbner associated the suburban movement of Pakistani-origin Muslims in Manchester with the formation of "gilded ghettoes" in the sought-after commuter suburbs of Cheshire.

The 2021 Census recorded 41,143 Pakistanis in Luton, making up 18.3% of the total population.

The largest concentrations are in Bury Park, Dallow and Challney.

The 2022 Census recorded 30,912 Pakistanis in Glasgow, making up 4.98% of the city's total population.

There are large Pakistani communities throughout the city, notably in the Pollokshields area of South Glasgow, where there are said to be some 'high standard' Pakistani takeaways and Asian fabric shops.{{cite web |title=What do you know about Pollokshields? |url=http://pollokshields.eveningtimes.co.uk/area/what-do-you-know-about-pollokshields.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824222846/http://pollokshields.eveningtimes.co.uk/area/what-do-you-know-about-pollokshields.html |archive-date=24 August 2011 |access-date=23 December 2010 |publisher=Herald & Times Group}}

Pakistanis also make up the largest 'visible' ethnic minority in Scotland, representing nearly one-third of the non-White ethnic minority population.{{cite web |author=Scotland against racism |title=Ethnicity Data |url=http://www.scotlandagainstracism.com/onescotland/25.1.8.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713141046/http://www.scotlandagainstracism.com/onescotland/25.1.8.html |archive-date=13 July 2011 |access-date=23 December 2010 |publisher=One Scotland}}

{{See also|Urdu in the United Kingdom|Punjabi language in the United Kingdom}}

Most British Pakistanis speak English, and those who were born in the UK consider British English to be their first language. First-generation and recent immigrants speak Pakistani English. Urdu, the national language of Pakistan, is understood and spoken by many British Pakistanis at a native level, and is the fourth-most commonly spoken language in the UK.{{cite web |url=http://countrystudies.us/pakistan/31.htm |title=Linguistic and Ethnic Groups |publisher=U.S. Library of Congress |access-date=23 December 2010}} Some secondary schools and colleges teach Urdu for GCSEs and A Levels.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QLF8Sn6UcTwC&pg=PA191|title=Ideology and Image: Britain and Language|first=Denis|last=Ager|year=2003|location=Clevedon|publisher=Multilingual Matters|page=191|isbn=1-85359-659-0}} Madrassas also offer it.{{cite web |url=http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6026931 |title=UK madrassas coach borderline pupils |author=William Stewart |publisher=TES Connect |access-date=23 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110917100104/http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6026931 |archive-date=17 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.ourlanguages.org.uk/working/case-studies/CaseStudy193 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316120643/http://www.ourlanguages.org.uk/working/case-studies/CaseStudy193 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=16 March 2012 |title=Case study |publisher=Department for Children, Schools and Families |access-date=23 December 2010}} According to Sajid Mansoor Qaisrani, Urdu language periodicals of the 1990s published in UK used to focus exclusively on South Asian issues, with no relevance to British society.{{Cite book|last=Qaisrani|first=Sajid Mansoor|title=Urdu press in Britain|publisher=Mashal Publications|date=February 1990|isbn=969-8094-00-8|location=Islamabad|pages=85, 86}} Coverage of local British issues and problems of local Pakistanis in the UK used to be sparse. Beyond Pakistani youth's interest in identifying with their ethnicity and religious identity, Urdu was of little use to them in finding suitable employment opportunities.

The majority of Pakistanis in Britain are from Azad Kashmir and the neighbouring Pothohar Plateau in Northern Punjab who speak Pahari-Pothwari as their mother tongue. Due to this Pahari-Pothwari is the second most spoken mother tongue in the UK, even surpassing Welsh.{{cite web |url= https://ealjournal.org/2020/11/11/language-homes-pahari-pothwari-and-english/#:~:text=Hence%20it%20is%20the%20%E2%80%9Csecond,the%20British%20Pakistani%20diaspora%20community. | title=Language Homes: Pahari-Pothwari and English | date=11 November 2020 }}

As a large proportion of Pakistanis in Britain are from Punjab, Punjabi is commonly spoken amongst Pakistanis in Britain. Other Punjabi dialects are spoken in Britain, making Punjabi the third-most commonly spoken language.

Other significant Pakistani languages spoken include Pashto, Saraiki, Sindhi, Balochi and a minority of others. These languages are not only spoken by British Pakistanis, but by other groups such as British Indians, British Afghans or British Iranians.{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB |title=Ethnologue report for United Kingdom |publisher=Ethnologue.com |access-date=27 April 2010}}

Many British Pakistanis have emigrated from the UK, establishing a diaspora of their own. There are around 80,000 Britons in Pakistan,{{cite news|url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/929229/over-280000-immigrants-living-in-pakistan-says-nisar/|title=Karachi has witnessed 43% decrease in target killing: Nisar|work=The Express Tribune|date=30 July 2015|access-date=3 August 2017|first=Zahid|last=Gishkori|quote=As many as 116,308 Afghan nationals are living as immigrants in the country, higher than any other country", Nisar told the House. Besides Afghans, 52,486 Americans, 79,447 British citizens and 17,320 Canadians are residing in the country, the interior minister added.}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/brits_abroad/html/asia.stm|title=Brits Abroad|work=BBC News|date=6 December 2006|access-date=14 October 2014}} a substantial number of whom are British Pakistanis who have resettled in Pakistan. The town of Mirpur in Azad Kashmir, where the majority of British Pakistanis hail from, has a large expatriate population of resettled British Pakistanis and is dubbed "Little England".{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17156238|title=How city of Mirpur became 'Little England'|work=BBC|date=5 March 2012|access-date=14 October 2014|first=Aleem|last=Maqbool}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1504791/British-Pakistanis-bring-fish-and-chips-to-Kashmirs-Beverly-Hills.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1504791/British-Pakistanis-bring-fish-and-chips-to-Kashmirs-Beverly-Hills.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=British Pakistanis bring fish and chips to Kashmir's 'Beverly Hills'|work=The Telegraph|date=5 December 2005|access-date=14 October 2014|first=Isambard|last=Wilkinson}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8655697.stm|title=Chasing the UK vote in Pakistan's 'Little Britain'|work=BBC|date=1 May 2010|access-date=14 October 2014|first=Aleem|last=Maqbool}}

Other British Pakistanis have migrated elsewhere to Europe, North America, Western Asia and Australia. Dubai, in the UAE, remains a popular destination for British Pakistani expatriates to live although there is no minimum wage and few anti-racism groups.{{cite book|last1=Roy|first1=Ananya|last2=Ong|first2=Aihwa|title=Worlding Cities: Asian Experiments and the Art of Being Global|date=2011|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9781444346770|page=170|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6bn9ogrm7QEC&pg=PA170|access-date=14 October 2014}}

Pakistanis in Hong Kong were given full British citizenship in 1997 during the handover of Hong Kong, when it ceased being a British colony to prevent them being made stateless.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65FqEpzwFwQ| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211117/65FqEpzwFwQ| archive-date=2021-11-17 | url-status=live|title=Hong Kong: Indians and Pakistanis to be given full British passports|access-date=24 April 2020|date=22 July 2015|work=AP Archive}}{{cbignore}} Previously, as Hong Kong residents, they held the status of British Overseas Territories citizens.{{cite news|url=https://www.scmp.com/article/201600/pakistanis-bno-passports-disowned|title=Pakistanis with BNO passports disowned|work=South China Morning Post|date=26 June 1997|access-date=24 April 2020|first=Glenn|last=Schloss}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/hk-citizens-to-get-full-british-passport-rights-1276798.html|title=HK citizens to get full British passport rights|work=The Independent|date=4 February 1997|access-date=24 April 2020|first=Colin|last=Brown}}

Over 90% of Pakistanis in the UK are Muslims. The largest proportion of these belong to the Sunni branch of Islam, mainly Deobandi (of the Tablighi Jamaat) and Sunni Barelvi, with a significant minority belonging to the Shia branch.

Mosques, community centres and religious youth organisations play an integral part in British Pakistani social life.{{cite book|last1=Jacobson|first1=Jessica|title=Islam in Transition: Religion and Identity Among British Pakistani Youth|date=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134697106|page=31|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y_GFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|access-date=9 April 2015}}

Pakistan's Independence Day is celebrated on 14 August in large Pakistani-populated areas of various cities. Pakistani Muslims also observe the month of Ramadan and mark the Islamic festivals of Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr.{{cite web |url=http://www.daily.pk/british-pakistani-muslims-in-uk-celebrate-eid-ul-fitr-with-traditional-zeal-1184/ |title=British Pakistani Muslims in UK celebrate Eid ul Fitr with traditional zeal |date=2 October 2008 |work=Pakistan Daily |access-date=26 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322161458/http://www.daily.pk/british-pakistani-muslims-in-uk-celebrate-eid-ul-fitr-with-traditional-zeal-1184/ |archive-date=22 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}

The annual Birmingham Eid Mela attracts more than 20,000 British Pakistanis who celebrate the festival. The Eid Mela also welcomes Muslims of other ethnic backgrounds. International and UK Asian musicians help to celebrate the nationwide Muslim community through its culture, music, food and sport.{{Cite web|url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/thousands-enjoy-eid-mela-cannon-160740|title=Thousands enjoy Eid Mela in Cannon Hill Park|first=Birmingham|last=Live|date=5 September 2011|website=birminghammail}}

Green Street in East London hosts Europe's "first Asian shopping mall".{{cite news|url=http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/art-and-culture/2015/03/30/Saris-souks-and-silk-Europe-s-first-Asian-shopping-mall-opens-.html|title=Saris, souks and silk: Europe's 'first Asian shopping mall' opens|work=Al Arabiya News|date=30 March 2015|access-date=12 April 2015|first=Nabila|last=Pathan}} A number of high-end Pakistani fashion and other retail brands have opened stores in the UK.{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/861253/the-rat-race-to-london-khaadi-strides-ahead/|title=The rat-race to London – Khaadi strides ahead, the others just sell lawn|work=The Express Tribune|first=Maliha|last=Rehman|date=30 March 2015|access-date=12 April 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/853678/summer-apparel-the-evergreen-lawn-businesses-in-pakistan/|title=Summer apparel: The evergreen lawn businesses in Pakistan|work=The Express Tribune|first=Humayoon|last=Dar|date=15 March 2015|access-date=12 April 2015}}

{{Further|Pakistani cuisine}}

{{See also|Balti (food)}}

File:Balti gosht.jpg is an example of British Pakistani cuisine.]]

Pakistani and South Asian cuisines are highly popular in Britain and have nurtured a largely successful food industry. The cuisine of Pakistan is strongly related to North Indian cuisine, coupled with an exotic blend of Central Asian and Middle eastern cuisine flavours.{{cite book |last1=Lee |first1=Jonathan H.X. |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofas00leej/page/973 |title=Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife |last2=Nadeau |first2=Kathleen M. |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-313-35066-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofas00leej/page/973 973] |quote=Pakistani cuisine—a fusion of Central Asian, Middle Eastern, Persian, and Indian traditions—is known for being spicy and for its aromatic and flavorful richness.}}

The popular Balti dish has its roots in Birmingham, where it was believed to have been created by a Pakistani immigrant of Balti origin in 1977. The dish is thought to have borrowed native tastes from the northeastern Pakistani region of Baltistan.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/immig_emig/england/birmingham/article_3.shtml |title=Birth of Birmingham's balti |publisher=BBC Legacies |access-date=26 December 2010}}{{cite news |date=17 July 2003 |title=Baltistan's mystery food |work=The Hindu |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/07/17/stories/2003071700130200.htm |url-status=dead |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041226192245/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2003/07/17/stories/2003071700130200.htm |archive-date=26 December 2004}} In 2009, the Birmingham City Council attempted to trademark the Balti dish to give the curry Protected Geographical Status alongside items such as luxury cheese and champagne.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/5698665/Birmingham-bids-to-prevent-curry-houses-elsewhere-using-word-Balti.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/5698665/Birmingham-bids-to-prevent-curry-houses-elsewhere-using-word-Balti.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Birmingham bids to prevent curry houses elsewhere using word Balti |author=Nick Britten|website=telegraph.co.uk |date= 1 July 2009|access-date=26 December 2010}}{{cbignore}} The area of Birmingham where the Balti dish was first served is known locally as the "Balti Triangle" or "Balti Belt".{{cite web |url=http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2007/05/04/balti-belt-a-wonder-to-behold-65233-19044622/ |title=Balti belt a wonder to behold |author=Neil Connor |publisher=Trinity Mirror Midlands |access-date=26 December 2010 |archive-date=28 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928111309/http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2007/05/04/balti-belt-a-wonder-to-behold-65233-19044622/ |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite/baltitriangle?packedargs=website%3D4&rendermode=live |title=Welcome to the Balti Triangle |publisher=Birmingham City Council |access-date=26 December 2010 |archive-date=25 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225005956/http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Satellite/baltitriangle?packedargs=website%3D4&rendermode=live |url-status=dead }}

Chicken tikka masala has long been amongst the nation's favourite dishes and is claimed to have been invented by a Pakistani chef in Glasgow, though its origins remain disputed.{{cite web |date=21 July 2009 |title=Glasgow 'invented' Tikka Masala |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/8161812.stm |access-date=19 May 2017 |website=BBC News |publisher=BBC |quote=Mr Sarwar claimed the dish owed its origins to the culinary skills of Ali Ahmed Aslam, proprietor of the Shish Mahal restaurant in Park Road in the west end of the city. He is said to have prepared a sauce using spices soaked in a tin of condensed tomato soup after a customer said his meal was too dry.}}{{cite news |last1=Godeau |first1=Lucie |date=2 August 2009 |title=Chicken tikka masala claims its origins in Scotland |newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |agency=Agence France Presse |url=http://www.smh.com.au//breaking-news-world/chicken-tikka-masala-claims-its-origins-in-scotland-20090802-e5mr.html |access-date=19 May 2017 |quote="Chicken tikka masala was invented in this restaurant, we used to make chicken tikka, and one day a customer said, 'I'd take some sauce with that, this is a bit dry'," said Ahmed Aslam Ali, 64, founder of Shish Mahal. "We thought we'd better cook the chicken with some sauce. So from here we cooked chicken tikka with the sauce that contains yogurt, cream, spices.}} There has been support for a campaign in Glasgow to obtain European Union Protected Designation of origin status for it.{{cite web|title=UK Parliament Early Day Motions 2008–2009|url=http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=39136&SESSION=899|publisher=The United Kingdom Parliament|access-date=11 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222052029/http://edmi.parliament.uk/EDMi/EDMDetails.aspx?EDMID=39136&SESSION=899|archive-date=22 December 2017|url-status=dead}}

Pakistanis are well represented in the British food industry. Many self-employed British Pakistanis own takeaways and restaurants. "Indian restaurants" in the North of England are almost entirely Pakistani owned.{{cite news

| author =The Guardian group

| title =Who are the British Asians?

| work = New Statesman

| url =http://www.newstatesman.com/uk-politics/2008/09/british-asians-britain-india

| access-date =12 April 2010

}} According to the Food Standards Agency, the South Asian food industry in the UK is worth £3.2 billion, accounting for two-thirds of all eating out, and serving about 2.5 million British customers every week.{{cite web|url=http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/nov/curryfacts|title=Curry factfile|work=Food Standards Agency|access-date=10 April 2015|archive-date=14 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101014074850/http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/nov/curryfacts|url-status=dead}} Curry sauces are sold in British supermarkets by British Pakistani entrepreneurs like Manchester-born Nighat Awan. Awan's Asian food business, Shere Khan, has made her one of the richest women in Britain.{{cite web |url=http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/235164_from_printing_tshirts_to_30m_food_fortune |title=From printing T-shirts to £30m food fortune |author=Chris Barry |work=Manchester Evening News |access-date=20 December 2010 |archive-date=12 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112162126/http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/235164_from_printing_tshirts_to_30m_food_fortune |url-status=dead }}

Successful fast-food chains founded by British Pakistanis include Chicken Cottage{{cite web |url=http://www.mohammedamin.com/About_me/Muslim_Power_List_2010.html | title=Muslim Power List 2010|website=mohammedamin.com |access-date=14 July 2013}} and Dixy Chicken.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/news/article3252162.ece |title=Tasty Chicken offered by the Dixy Panban Chicken Franchise |publisher=Franchise Business Ltd |access-date=14 July 2013 |location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

{{Further|List of British people of Pakistani descent#Sport}}

File:2018.01.06.17.47.32-Moeen Ali (38876905344) (cropped).jpg in 2018]]

The expansion of the British Empire led to cricket being played overseas.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1157_cricket_history/ |title=The birth and the journey through centuries |author=BBC World Service |publisher=BBC |access-date=26 December 2010}}{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cricket/pakistan-has-so-much-talent-but-we-dont-channel-it-properly-2036216.html |title=Pakistan has so much talent but we don't channel it properly |author=Stephen Brenkley |date=27 July 2010 |work=The Independent |access-date=20 February 2011}} Aftab Habib, Usman Afzaal, Kabir Ali, Owais Shah, Sajid Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Amjad Khan, Ajmal Shahzad, Moeen Ali, Zafar Ansari, Saqib Mahmood, Rehan Ahmed and Shoaib Bashir are Pakistani-origin sportspeople who have played cricket for England.{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1272665|title=Pakistan's cricketing exports|work=Dawn|first=Omair|last=Alavi|date=24 July 2016|access-date=31 July 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/1187666.html |title=2nd T20I, England tour of New Zealand at Wellington, Nov 3 2019 |work=ESPNcricinfo|access-date=3 November 2019}} Similarly, Asim Butt, Omer Hussain, Majid Haq, Qasim Sheikh and Moneeb Iqbal have represented Scotland. Imad Wasim became the first Welsh-born cricketer to represent Pakistan.{{cite web|url=http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES6/articles/000049/004981.shtml|title=Instonians sign Pakistani professional Imad Wasim|work=Cricket Europe|access-date=26 July 2015|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222155843/http://www.cricketeurope4.net/DATABASE/ARTICLES6/articles/000049/004981.shtml|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/wales/33589949|title=Swansea-born Imad Wasim makes debut for Pakistan|work=BBC Sport|date=19 July 2015|access-date=20 July 2015}} A number of former Pakistani cricketers have pursued professional cricket in England, and in the course of doing so, attained British citizenship or residency; they include Azhar Mahmood,{{citation|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/321632.html|title=Azhar Mahmood joins Kent|work=ESPNcricinfo|date=22 November 2007|access-date=20 April 2012}} Mohammad Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed,{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/sports/mushtaq-saqlain-apply/cid/1056457|title=Mushtaq, Saqlain apply|work=Telegraph|date=14 September 2005|access-date=15 January 2025}} Saqlain Mushtaq,{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/saqlain-excited-by-england-prospect-20070713-gdqls4.html|title=Saqlain excited by England prospect|work=Sydney Morning Herald|date=13 July 2007|access-date=15 January 2025}} Junaid Khan,{{cite news|url=https://www.geosuper.tv/latest/2944-want-to-play-for-pakistan-not-england-junaid-khan|title=Want to play for Pakistan, not England: Junaid Khan|work=Geo Super|date=23 September 2019|access-date=15 January 2025}} Zafar Gohar,{{cite web|url=https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/zafar-gohar-joins-middlesex-locally-qualified-player-1458558|title=Zafar Gohar joins Middlesex as locally qualified player|work=ESPNcricinfo|date=5 November 2024|access-date=15 January 2025}} and Mohammad Amir.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2023/07/22/mohammad-amir-join-derbyshire-local-british-citizenship/|title=Exclusive: Mohammad Amir to join Derbyshire as local player after undergoing British citizenship process|work=Telegraph|date=22 July 2023|access-date=15 January 2025}} There are several other British Pakistanis, as well as cricketers from Pakistan, who play English county cricket.{{cite news|url=http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/sport-comment/england-counties-are-pakistan-cricketers-finishing-schools|title=England counties are Pakistan cricketers' finishing schools|newspaper=The National|date=25 July 2011|access-date=16 May 2015|first=Haroon|last=Khan}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/english-cricket-south-asian-community-wasim-khan-ecb-pakistan-india-a8344591.html|title=I was the first British born Pakistani to play professional cricket in the UK – but why are there still so few of us?|work=The Independent|date=10 May 2018|access-date=9 May 2020|first=Wasim|last=Khan}}

Many young British Pakistanis find it difficult to make their way to the highest level of playing for England, despite much talent around the country. Many concerns about this have been documented although the number of British Pakistanis making progress in representing England is on the rise.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-british-pakistanis-lost-to-english-cricket-tlwngkc7r|title=The British Pakistanis lost to English cricket|first=John|last=Westerby|date=31 May 2018|via=thetimes.co.uk}}

The Pakistan national cricket team enjoys a substantial following among British Pakistanis, with the level of support translating to the equivalent of a home advantage whenever the team tours the UK. The "Stani Army" is a group consisting of British Pakistanis who follow the team, especially when they play in the UK. The Stani Army is seen as the "rival" fan club to India's "Bharat Army".{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/cricket-world-cup-rise-bharat-stani-armies-190614093046040.html|title=Cricket World Cup: The rise of the Bharat and Stani Armies|first=David|last=Cox|website=www.aljazeera.com}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p018s05k|title=BBC Radio Bristol - Desi Download, The Stani Army: UK Pakistan Cricket fans|website=BBC|date=8 May 2013 }}{{cite journal|last1=Fletcher|first1=Thomas|title='Who do they cheer for?': Cricket, diaspora, hybridity and divided loyalties amongst British Asians|journal=International Review for the Sociology of Sport|volume=47|issue=5|pages=612–631|date=29 July 2011|doi=10.1177/1012690211416556|s2cid=143050013|url=http://eprints.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/1316/2/Fletcher%20-%20Who%20do%20they%20Cheer%20for1.pdf}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2001/may/29/race.world|title=A question of support|work=The Guardian|date=30 May 2001|access-date=26 July 2015|first=Vivek|last=Chaudhry}}{{cite web|url=http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/1098404/india-fans-v-pakistan-fans---a-british-rivalry|title=Frenemies forever|work=The Cricket Monthly|first=Vithushan|last=Ehantharajah|date=June 2017|access-date=4 June 2017}} England and Pakistan share a long cricketing relationship, often characterised by rivalries.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2012/jan/11/cricket-history-pakistan-england-in-pictures|title=The bitter cricketing history of Pakistan v England – in pictures|work=The Guardian|date=11 January 2012|access-date=26 July 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/page2/content/story/535169.html|title=England v Pakistan: not for the faint-hearted|work=ESPNcricinfo|first=Imran|last=Yusuf|date=10 October 2011|access-date=26 July 2015}}

Football is also widely followed and played by many young British Pakistanis. Masood Fakhri was the first player from South Asia to play in England, where he played for Bradford City before retiring.{{cite web |title=East Bengal Club - Legends |url=http://eastbengalclub.co.in/legends.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127153453/http://eastbengalclub.co.in/legends.html |archive-date=27 November 2018 |accessdate=1 July 2021 |work=eastbengalclub.co.in |quote=Masood Fakhri: Left-Out. Played for East Bengal from 1952 - 1954. He hailed from Pakistan and was the first sub-continent Footballer to play professional league in England for a couple of years from 1955. He toured USSR and Romania with East Bengal Club in 1953.}} Many players on the Pakistan national football team are British-born Pakistanis who became eligible to represent the country because of their Pakistani heritage. Zesh Rehman played briefly for Fulham, becoming the first British Asian to play in the Premier League, before also playing for the English youth national teams until eventually opting for Pakistan.{{Cite web |last=Rouse |first=Daniel |title=Why English football may be at the start of an Asian revolution |url=https://www.thescore.com/engch/news/2355589 |access-date=2022-12-07 |website=theScore.com |date=22 June 2022 |language=en}} Easah Suliman became the first player of Asian heritage to captain an England football side, having done so at Under-16, Under-17 and Under-19 levels,{{cite web |date=18 November 2015 |title=Aston Villa's Easah Suliman hopes to set standard for England's Asian footballers, Ed Aarons |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/nov/18/aston-villa-easah-suliman-england-asian-footballers |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806141453/https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/nov/18/aston-villa-easah-suliman-england-asian-footballers |archive-date=6 August 2016 |access-date=4 August 2016 |website=The Guardian}} until eventually opting for Pakistan at senior level.{{Cite web |title=Former England U20 player set to represent Pakistan football team |url=https://www.geosuper.tv/latest/24668-former-england-u20-player-set-to-represent-pakistan-football-team |website=www.geosuper.tv}}{{Cite web |date=2023-06-25 |title=Former England U19 captain Easah Suliman hopes to write a new chapter with Pakistan |url=https://sportstar.thehindu.com/football/saff-championship-2023-easah-suliman-england-u19-captain-pakistan-pak-football-news/article67009069.ece |access-date=2023-06-25 |website=sportstar.thehindu.com |language=en}} Suliman played every game at centre back in the England Under-19s victorious UEFA European Under-19 Championship campaign in July 2017, scoring the opening goal in England's 2–1 final victory over Portugal.{{cite web |title=Under-19 2017: Portugal-England |url=http://www.uefa.com/under19/season=2017/matches/round=2000774/match=2022852/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180607190648/http://www.uefa.com/under19/season=2017/matches/round=2000774/match=2022852/index.html |archive-date=7 June 2018 |access-date=28 July 2017 |website=UEFA}}

File:Zesh Rehman York City v. Bradford City 1.png playing for Bradford City in 2009]]

Zidane Iqbal made his first-team debut for Manchester United on 8 December 2021 as an 89th-minute substitute in a Champions League match against Young Boys.{{cite news |last=Stone |first=Simon |date=8 December 2021 |title=Man Utd 1-1 Young Boys: Youthful United side held in final Champions League group game |work=BBC Sport |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59570192 |url-status=live |accessdate=8 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211212064605/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59570192 |archive-date=12 December 2021}} Thus, he became the first British-born South Asian to play for the senior club, and the first ever British South Asian to play in the Champions League.{{Cite web |last=Varley |first=Ciaran |date=9 December 2021 |title=Zidane Iqbal becomes Manchester United's first British South Asian player |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59595236 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720102756/https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59595236 |archive-date=20 July 2022 |access-date=10 December 2021 |work=BBC Sport}}{{cite web |title=Zidane Iqbal becomes first British South Asian to play in the UEFA Champions League |url=https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/12489941/manchester-united-zidane-iqbal-becomes-first-british-south-asian-in-clubs-history-after-champions-league-appearance |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531220342/https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11667/12489941/manchester-united-zidane-iqbal-becomes-first-british-south-asian-in-clubs-history-after-champions-league-appearance |archive-date=31 May 2022 |access-date=6 April 2022 |website=skysports.com}}

Other notable British Pakistani footballers include Adnan Ahmed, Atif Bashir, Otis Khan, Adil Nabi, Rahis Nabi and Harun Hamid.

File:Khan-devon press (cropped).jpg in 2014]]

Boxing is commonly practised among British Pakistanis. Amir Khan is regarded as one of the most successful British boxers of all time, and is credited with popularising boxing amongst British Pakistanis, as well as inspiring South Asian involvement in all aspects of British boxing.{{Cite web |date=2023-05-18 |title=Khaleel Majid: Flying the flag for British Asian boxers |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-65632768.amp |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=BBC News |language=en-gb}}{{Cite news |title=A closer look at Amir Khan as one of Britain's most entertaining boxers retires |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/amir-khan-kell-brook-britain-virgil-hunter-pakistani-b2078394.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241207031241/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/amir-khan-kell-brook-britain-virgil-hunter-pakistani-b2078394.html |archive-date=2024-12-07 |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=The Independent |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2022-08-10 |title=What has inspired British Asians boxers to make an impact on the sport |url=https://www.asianimage.co.uk/sport/20615963.inspired-british-asians-boxers-make-impact-sport/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=Asian Image |language=en}}

Jawaid Khaliq, Kash Farooq, Adam Azim, Hamzah Sheeraz and Shabaz Masoud are other notable British Pakistani boxers.{{Cite web |last=Hanif |first=Faisal |date=2024-04-02 |title=The rise of British Asians in Boxing |url=https://www.asianstandard.co.uk/the-rise-of-british-asians-in-boxing/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=Asian Standard Newspaper |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |date=2022-02-18 |title=Adam and Hassan Azim: The boxing brothers following Amir Khan's lead to success |url=https://metro.co.uk/2022/02/18/adam-and-hassan-azim-the-boxing-brothers-looking-to-match-and-surpass-amir-khans-success-16126289/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=Metro |language=en}}

Hockey and polo are commonly played in Pakistan, with the former being a national sport, but these sports are not as popular among British Pakistanis, possibly because of the urban lifestyles which the majority of them embrace. Imran Sherwani was a hockey player of Pakistani descent who played for the English and Great Britain national field hockey teams.{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics_2004/hockey/3861363.stm | work=BBC News | first=Saj | last=Chowdhury | title=Where were the Germans? | date=2 July 2004}}

Adam Khan is a race car driver from Bridlington, Yorkshire. He represents Pakistan in the A1 Grand Prix series. Khan is currently the demonstration driver for the Renault F1 racing team.{{cite web |url=http://www.britsonpole.com/f1-adam-khan-gets-a-break-with-renault-post6604 |title=F1: Adam Khan gets a break with Renault |author=LJ Hutchins |date=28 January 2009 |publisher=Brits on Pole |access-date=26 December 2010}} Ikram Butt was the first South Asian to play international rugby for England in 1995.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/oct/28/ikram-butt-interview-rugby-community |title=Trying times |date= 28 October 2009|publisher=Chris Arnot |access-date=20 February 2011}} He is the founder of the British Asian Rugby Association and the British Pakistani rugby league team, and has also captained Pakistan. He is the current WBA World light welterweight champion and 2004 Summer Olympics silver medalist.{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/celebs/sport-champs6.html |title=Sports & Olympic Champions |author=John Moss |publisher=Manchester UK |access-date=26 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206020836/http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/celebs/sport-champs6.html |archive-date=6 December 2010 |url-status=usurped }} Matthew Syed was a table tennis international, and the English number one for many years.{{cite web |url=http://www.comtab.com/championships/index.htm |title=Championships |access-date=23 August 2008 |work=comtab.com |publisher=Commonwealth Table Tennis Federation |archive-date=24 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080824071023/http://www.comtab.com/championships/index.htm |url-status=dead }} Lianna Swan is a swimmer who has represented Pakistan in several events.{{cite news|url=http://v1.sport360.com/other-sports/lianna-swan-flying-flag-pakistani-swimming|title=Lianna Swan: Flying the Flag for Pakistani Swimming|date=25 July 2013|access-date=27 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726002705/http://v1.sport360.com/other-sports/lianna-swan-flying-flag-pakistani-swimming|website=Sport360°|archive-date=26 July 2014|url-status=dead}}

A number of British Pakistani writers are notable in the field of literature. They include Tariq Ali, Kamila Shamsie, Nadeem Aslam, Mohsin Hamid and others.[https://web.archive.org/web/20100112030507/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/race-special--mohsin-hamid-on-citizenship-437284.html "Mohsin Hamid on citizenship"] The Independent 25 February 2007

Through their publications, diaspora writers have developed a body of work that has come to be known as Pakistani English literature."Prolegomena to the Study of Pakistani English and Pakistani Literature in English" (1989), Alamgir Hashmi, Pakistani Literature (Islamabad), 2:1 1993.

A report of a study conducted by The University of Essex found British Pakistanis identify with 'Britishness' more than any other Britons. The study is one of several recent studies that have found that Pakistanis in Britain express a strong sense of belonging in Britain. The report showed that 90% of Pakistanis feel a strong sense of belonging in Britain compared to 84% of white Britons.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2012/jul/03/muslims-integrated-britain | work=The Guardian | first=Leon | last=Moosavi | title=British identity and society, Islam (News), Race issues (News), World news, Religion (News), Society, UK news | date=3 July 2012}}

English Pakistanis tend to identify much more with the United Kingdom than with England, with 63% describing themselves in a Policy Exchange survey as exclusively "British" and not "English" in terms of nationality, and only 15% saying they were solely English.{{cite news |last=Kirkup |first=James |title=Non-white people almost 30 per cent of population by 2050 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10809481/Non-white-people-almost-30-per-cent-of-population-by-2050.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/immigration/10809481/Non-white-people-almost-30-per-cent-of-population-by-2050.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=2 August 2014 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=5 May 2014}}{{cbignore}}

{{Main|British Mirpuris}}

File:Official portrait of Ms Nusrat Ghani.jpg is a Kashmir born MP and the first female Pakistani Conservative Party MP.]]

Around 70% of all British Pakistanis trace their origins to the administrative territory of Azad Kashmir in northeastern Pakistan, mainly from the Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber districts.{{Cite book |last1=Balcerowicz |first1=Piotr |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jTlvEAAAQBAJ&dq=british+pakistanis&pg=PT134 |title=Kashmir in India and Pakistan Policies |last2=Kuszewska |first2=Agnieszka |date=2022-05-26 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-351-06372-2 |pages=134 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Sökefeld |first=Martin |title=Migration - Networks - Skills |chapter-url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783839433645-002/html |chapter=The Kashmiri Diaspora in Britain and the Limits of Political Mobilisation |date=2016-06-06 |pages=23–46 |publisher=transcript Verlag |isbn=978-3-8394-3364-5 |language=en |doi=10.1515/9783839433645-002 |url=http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bvb:19-epub-41164-5 |quote=Individual migration from what later became AJK started already before the Subcontinent’s partition and independence. From the 1950s, chain migration developed, transferring large portions of the population of southern AJK (today’s districts of Mirpur, Kotli and Bhimber), resulting in quite concentrated settlements of Kashmiris in Britain, especially in Birmingham, Bradford, different towns in Lancashire and around London.}}

Christopher Snedden writes that most of the native residents of Azad Kashmir are not of Kashmiri ethnicity; rather, they could be called "Jammuites" due to their historical and cultural links with that region, which is coterminous with neighbouring Punjab and Hazara.{{Cite book |last=Snedden |first=Christopher |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a19eCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris |date=2015-09-15 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-1-84904-622-0 |pages=21–24 |language=en |quote=Confusingly, the term 'Kashmiri' also has wider connotations and uses. Most people in Azad Kashmir call themselves 'Kashmiris' This is despite most Azad Kashmiris not being of Kashmiri ethnicity. Indeed, most of their ethnic, cultural and historical links have been, and remain, with areas to the south and west of Azad Kashmir, chiefly Punjab and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Nevertheless, Azad Kashmiris call themselves Kashmiris because of their region's historical connections with the former princely state of J&K that popularly was called Kashmir.}}{{cite book |last=Kennedy |first=Charles H. |title=The Territorial Management of Ethnic Conflict |date=August 2, 2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781135764425 |editor=John Coakley |page=153 |chapter=Pakistan: Ethnic Diversity and Colonial Legacy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nEqRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA153}} Because their region was formerly a part of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and is named after it, many Azad Kashmiris have adopted the "Kashmiri" identity, whereas in an ethnolinguistic context, the term "Kashmiri" would ordinarily refer to natives of the Kashmir Valley region.{{cite book |author=Christopher Snedden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a19eCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT23 |title=Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris |date=15 September 2015 |publisher=Hurst |isbn=978-1-84904-622-0 |pages=21–24}} The population of Azad Kashmir has strong historical, cultural and linguistic affinities with the neighbouring populations of upper Punjab and Potohar region of Pakistan.{{Citation |last1=Jabeen |first1=Nazish |title=Consanguinity and Its Sociodemographic Differentials in Bhimber District, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan |date=June 2014 |journal=Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=301–313 |pmc=4216966 |pmid=25076667 |quote=Kashmiri population in the northeast of Pakistan has strong historical, cultural and linguistic affinities with the neighbouring populations of upper Punjab and Potohar region of Pakistan. |last2=Malik |first2=Sajid}}{{citation |last=Ballard |first=Roger |title=Kashmir Crisis: View from Mirpur |date=2 March 1991 |url=https://casas.org.uk/papers/pdfpapers/kashmir.pdf |journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=26 |number=9/10 |pages=513–517 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304034904/http://casas.org.uk/papers/pdfpapers/kashmir.pdf |jstor=4397403 |quote="... they are best seen as forming the eastern and northern limits of the Potohari Punjabi culture which is otherwise characteristic of the upland parts of Rawalpindi and Jhelum Districts" |access-date=July 19, 2020 |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead}}

The first generation migrant from Azad Kashmir were not highly educated, and being from rural settlements, had little or no experience of urban living in Pakistan. Migration from Jammu and Kashmir began soon after the Second World War as the majority of the male population of this area and the Potohar region worked in the British armed forces, as well as to fill labour shortages in industry. But the mass migration phenomenon accelerated in the 1960s, when, to improve the supply of water, the Mangla Dam project was built in the area, flooding the surrounding farmlands. Up to 50,000 people from Mirpur (5% of the displaced) resettled in Britain. More Azad Kashmiris joined their relatives in Britain after benefiting from government compensation and liberal migration policies. Large Azad Kashmiri communities can be found in Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, Leeds, Luton and the surrounding towns.{{Cite book |last=Skutsch |first=Carl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXYKAgAAQBAJ&dq=kashmiris+luton+bradford+birmingham&pg=PA694 |title=Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities |date=2013-11-07 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-19388-1 |pages=694 |language=en |quote=Kashmiris from Azad Kashmir (the Mirpur and Kotli districts) relocated to Britain in the 1950s, especially to the towns of Bradford, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and Luton, on account of the availability of unskilled work.}}

The Azad Kashmiri expatriate community has made notable progress in UK politics and a sizeable number of MPs, councillors, lord mayors and deputy mayors are representing the community in different constituencies.{{cite news|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/society/2010/08/bradford-british-pakistan|title=The mosques aren't working in Bradistan|work=New Statesman|date=20 August 2010|access-date=17 August 2014|first=Samira|last=Shackle}}

{{Main|British Punjabis}}

Punjabis make up the second-largest sub-group of British Pakistanis, estimated to make up to a third of all British Pakistanis.{{cite book |title=Desh Pardesh: the South Asian presence in Britain |author1=Roger Ballard |author2=Marcus Banks |year=1994 |pages=18, 20, 21 |publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers }} With an equally large number from Indian Punjab, two-thirds of all British Asians are of Punjabi descent, and they are the largest Punjabi community outside of South Asia, resulting in Punjabi being the third-most commonly spoken language in the UK.{{cite web|title=2011 Census: Quick Statistics|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-wards-and-output-areas-in-england-and-wales/STB-2011-census--quick-statistics-for-england-and-wales--march-2011.html#tab-Main-language|access-date=17 May 2014}}[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199900/cmhansrd/vo000307/halltext/00307h02.htm "Punjabi Community".] The United Kingdom Parliament. Retrieved 2 November 2010

People who came from the Punjab area integrated much more easily into the British society as early Punjabi immigrants to Britain tended to have higher education credentials and found it easier to assimilate because many already had a basic knowledge of the English language (primarily Pakistani English). Research by Teesside University has found the British Punjabi community of late has become one of the most highly educated and economically successful ethnic minorities in the UK.{{cite web |url=http://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/Research/social_futures/research19.cfm |title=Punjabi Communities in the North East |author=Steve Taylor |publisher=Teesside University |access-date=2 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927173214/http://www.tees.ac.uk/sections/Research/social_futures/research19.cfm |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}

Most Pakistani Punjabis living in the UK trace their roots to villages of the Pothohar region (Jhelum, Gujar Khan, Attock ) of northern Punjab, along with villages in the Central Punjab (Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Gujrat, and Sargodha) region, while more recent immigrants have also arrived from large cities such as Lahore and Multan.{{cite book|last=Gilliat-Ray|first=Sophie|title=Muslims in Britain|date=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521536882|page=45}} British Punjabis are commonly found in the south of England, the Midlands, and the major cities in the north (with smaller minorities in former mill towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire).{{Cite web |title=Video: How the Punjab first came to a Yorkshire mill town |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/video-how-the-punjab-first-came-to-a-yorkshire-mill-town-1-5987164 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180703201903/https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/video-how-the-punjab-first-came-to-a-yorkshire-mill-town-1-5987164 |archive-date=3 July 2018 |access-date=12 July 2021 |website=Yorkshire Post}}

{{Main|British Pashtuns}}

Pakistani Pashtuns in the United Kingdom mainly originate from the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern Balochistan in Pakistan, though there are also smaller communities from other parts of Pakistan, such as Pashtuns of Punjab from Attock. There are several estimates of the Pashtun population in the UK. Ethnologue estimates that there are up to 87,000 native Pashto-speakers in the UK; this figure also includes Afghan immigrants belonging to the Pashtun ethnicity.{{citation|chapter-url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB|chapter=Ethnologue report for the United Kingdom|editor-last=Lewis|editor-first=M. Paul|year=2009|title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World|edition=16th|location=Dallas, Texas|publisher=SIL International|access-date=29 July 2013}} Another report shows that there are over 100,000 Pashtuns in Britain, making them the largest Pashtun community in Europe.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL861250|title=Support for Taliban dives among British Pashtuns|work=Reuters|date=10 June 2009|access-date=29 July 2013|archive-date=21 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621073603/http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/06/10/idUSL861250|url-status=live}}

Major Pashtun settlement in the United Kingdom can be dated over the course of the past five decades. There is a British Pashtun Council which has been formed by the Pashtun community in the UK.

British Pashtuns have continued to maintain ties with Pakistan over the years, taking keen interest in political and socioeconomic developments in Pakistan.

{{Main|British Sindhis}}

There are over 30,000 Sindhis in Britain.{{cite book|last1=Payne|first1=J.D.|title=Strangers Next Door: Immigration, Migration and Mission|date=2012|publisher=InterVarsity Press|isbn=9780830863419|page=184}}

{{Main|Baloch in the United Kingdom}}

There is a small Baloch community in the UK, originating from the Balochistan province of southwestern Pakistan and neighbouring regions. There are many Baloch associations and groups active in the UK, including the Baloch Students and Youth Association (BSYA),{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-121922-Baloch-youth-body-formed-in-UK|title=Baloch youth body formed in UK|date=21 July 2012|access-date=2 June 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/national/16-Jul-2012/baloch-students-form-association-in-uk|title=Baloch students form association in UK|work=Daily Times|date=16 July 2012|access-date=2 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605051957/http://archives.dailytimes.com.pk/national/16-Jul-2012/baloch-students-form-association-in-uk|archive-date=5 June 2014|url-status=dead}} Baloch Cultural Society, Baloch Human Rights Council (UK) and others.{{cite web|url=http://www.unpo.org/article/15513|title=Balochistan: Important London Meeting For UK Baloch|work=Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization|date=15 February 2013|access-date=1 June 2014}}

Some Baloch political leaders and workers are based in the UK, where they found exile.{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-128674-Baloch-diaspora-pays-rich-tributes-to-Akbar-Bugti|title=Baloch diaspora pays rich tributes to Akbar Bugti|work=The News|date=28 August 2012|access-date=1 June 2014|first=Murtaza Ali|last=Shah}}{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/554511/balochistan-conundrum-khan-of-kalats-return-is-a-distant-possibility/|title=Balochistan conundrum: Khan of Kalat's return is a distant possibility|first=Qaiser|last=Butt|work=The Express Tribune|date=26 May 2013|access-date=2 June 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/358155/family-intervention-khan-of-kalats-son-wants-to-bring-back-exiled-father/|title=Family intervention?: 'Khan of Kalat's son wants to bring back exiled father'|work=The Express Tribune|date=1 April 2012|access-date=2 June 2014}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-328194-Baloch-leaders-keep-low-profile-in-UK|title=Baloch leaders keep low profile in UK|work=The News|date=10 July 2015|access-date=11 August 2015|first=Murtaza Ali|last=Shah}}

File:Riz Ahmed at the Rogue One - A Star Wars Story - World Premeire Red Carpet - DSC 0437 (31547570706) (cropped).jpg is a British Pakistani actor and rapper of Muhajir origin]]

There is also a significant albeit smaller community Muhajirs in the UK. Muhajirs originally migrated from present-day India to Pakistan following the partition of British India in 1947. Most of them settled in Pakistan's largest city Karachi, where they form the demographic majority. Many Muhajir Pakistanis later migrated to Britain, effecting a secondary migration.

Altaf Hussain, leader of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM)—the largest political party in Karachi, with its roots lying in the Muhajir community—has been based in England in self-imposed exile since 1992. He is controversially regarded to have virtually "ruled" and "remotely governed" Karachi from his residence in the north London suburb of Edgware.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/21/karachi-altaf-hussain-mqm-pakistan|title=Karachi's king over the water: Altaf Hussain of the MQM|work=The Guardian|date=22 May 2013|access-date=7 April 2015}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-23145377|title=Altaf Hussain: Pakistan's powerful but absent politician|work=BBC|date=3 June 2014|access-date=7 April 2015}} Another notable includes the 2016 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, who is of Muhajir origin.{{Cite magazine |title=Sadiq Khan: The World's 100 Most Influential People |url=https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217530/sadiq-khan/ |access-date=2024-08-02 |magazine=Time |language=en-us}}

There is also a Pakistani Hazara community in the UK, concentrated particularly in Milton Keynes, northeastern London, Southampton and Birmingham. They migrated to the UK from Quetta and its surroundings, which is historically home to the large Hazara population in Pakistan.{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201212/cmhansrd/cm120301/debtext/120301-0004.htm|title=Daily Hansard Debate|work=House of Commons|date=1 March 2012|access-date=21 March 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mkhazaracommunity.com/|title=Homepage|work=Hazara Community of Milton Keynes|access-date=21 March 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402104248/http://www.mkhazaracommunity.com/|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1138407|title=Pakistani Hazara campaigner fights deportation from Britain|work=Dawn|date=16 October 2014|access-date=21 March 2015}}

Pakistanis together with Bangladeshis in the UK have poor health by many measures, for instance there is a fivefold rate of diabetes.{{Cite web|url=http://www.genesandhealth.org/genes-your-health/genetics-south-asian-populations|title=Genetics & South Asian Populations {{!}} East London Genes & Health|website=genesandhealth.org|language=en|access-date=2018-07-14}} Pakistani men have the highest rate of heart disease in the UK.{{Cite web|url=http://www.genesandhealth.org/bn/node/91|title=Diabetes and heart disease in Bangladeshis and Pakistanis {{!}} East London Genes & Health|website=genesandhealth.org|language=bn|access-date=2018-07-14}}

In the UK, women of South Asian heritage, including British Pakistanis, are the least likely to attend breast cancer screening. A study showed that British-Pakistani women faced cultural and language barriers and were not aware that breast screening takes place in a female-only environment.{{Cite journal |date=2020-09-15 |title=Cultural and language barriers need to be addressed for British-Pakistani women to benefit fully from breast screening |url=https://evidence.nihr.ac.uk/alert/cultural-and-language-barriers-need-to-be-addressed-for-british-pakistani-women-to-benefit-fully-from-breast-screening/ |journal=NIHR Evidence |type=Plain English summary |language=en |doi=10.3310/alert_41135|s2cid=241324844 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Woof |first1=Victoria G |last2=Ruane |first2=Helen |last3=Ulph |first3=Fiona |last4=French |first4=David P |last5=Qureshi |first5=Nadeem |last6=Khan |first6=Nasaim |last7=Evans |first7=D Gareth |last8=Donnelly |first8=Louise S |date=2019-12-02 |title=Engagement barriers and service inequities in the NHS Breast Screening Programme: Views from British-Pakistani women |url=https://doi.org/10.1177/0969141319887405 |journal=Journal of Medical Screening |volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=130–137 |doi=10.1177/0969141319887405 |issn=0969-1413 |pmc=7645618 |pmid=31791172}}{{Cite journal |last1=Woof |first1=Victoria G. |last2=Ruane |first2=Helen |last3=French |first3=David P. |last4=Ulph |first4=Fiona |last5=Qureshi |first5=Nadeem |last6=Khan |first6=Nasaim |last7=Evans |first7=D. Gareth |last8=Donnelly |first8=Louise S. |date=2020-05-20 |title=The introduction of risk stratified screening into the NHS breast screening Programme: views from British-Pakistani women |journal=BMC Cancer |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=452 |doi=10.1186/s12885-020-06959-2 |issn=1471-2407 |pmc=7240981 |pmid=32434564 |doi-access=free }} British Pakistanis, male and female, on average claim to have had only one sexual partner. The average British Pakistani male claims to have lost his virginity at the age of 20, the average female at 22, giving an average age of 21. 3.2% of Pakistani males report that they have been diagnosed with a sexually transmitted infection (STI), compared to 3.6% of Pakistani females.{{cite news|last=Fleming |first=Nic |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1486879/Love-league-tables-show-link-to-sexual-disease.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1486879/Love-league-tables-show-link-to-sexual-disease.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Love league tables show link to sexual disease |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=1 April 2005 |access-date=27 April 2010 | location=London}}{{cbignore}}

Cultural norms regarding issues such as chastity and marriage have resulted in British Pakistanis having a substantially older age for first intercourse, a lower number of partners, and lower STI rates than the national average.

Research in Birmingham in the 1980s suggested that 50-70% of marriages within the Pakistani community were consanguineous (blood related).{{Cite book|url=http://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|title=Enhanced Genetic Services Project - Evaluation Report|publisher=PHG Foundation / NHS|year=2008|pages=9|access-date=14 July 2018|archive-date=30 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630110722/https://www.phgfoundation.org/documents/376_1412153210.pdf|url-status=dead}} In 2005, it was estimated that nationwide 55% of British Pakistanis were married to a first cousin{{Cite news |date=2005-11-16 |title=The risks of cousin marriage |language=en-GB |work=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4442010.stm |access-date=2023-05-22}} and around 70% in Bradford.{{Cite news |date=2012-04-19 |title=Bradford's cousin marriage boom |language=en-GB |work=BBC |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9714000/9714582.stm |access-date=2023-05-22}}{{Cite web |title=BBC Three - Should I Marry My Cousin? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p056gvhm |access-date=2023-05-22 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} A more recent study on the Bradford Pakistani community in 2023 has suggested that there has been a sharp fall in the number of babies with parents who were first or second cousins, falling from 60% in 2013 to now only 46%. One teenager in the study noted "If you're really romantically into your cousin you can go for it, but now there isn't as much pushing of cousin marriage."{{cite news |last1=Mitchell |first1=Sue |title=Fewer cousins marrying in Bradford's Pakistani community |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67422918 |access-date=18 November 2023 |work=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231118010256/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-67422918 |archive-date=18 November 2023}}

Such a close relationship can double the likelihood of a child suffering from a birth defect from 3% to 6%.{{cite web

| url =https://www.bionews.org.uk/page_94187 | title =Risk of birth defects from cousin marriage revealed by Bradford study | last =Victoria Burchell

| first =Victoria Burchell | date =8 July 2013 | website =BioNews | publisher =Progress Educational Trust | access-date =8 July 2018 }}{{Cite news |date=2013-07-04 |title=Bradford study finds higher birth defect risk in married cousins |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-23183102 |access-date=2023-05-22}} Children born to closely related Pakistani parents had an autosomal recessive condition rate of 4% compared to 0.1% for European parents.{{cite news |last=Parveen |first=Nazia |date=2019-02-15 |title=Cousin marriages cited as significant factor in Bradford child deaths |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/feb/15/cousin-marriages-cited-as-significant-factor-bradford-child-deaths |access-date=2023-05-22 |issn=0261-3077}}

Cousin marriages or marriages within the same tribe and clan are common in some parts of South Asia, including rural areas of Pakistan.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7237663.stm |title=Birth defects warning sparks row |date=10 February 2008 |work=BBC News |access-date=26 December 2010}} A major motivation is to preserve patrilineal tribal identity.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingcon0000gang/page/232|title=Understanding Contemporary India|first=Neil|last=DeVotta|year=2003|location=London|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingcon0000gang/page/232 232–237]|isbn=1-55587-958-6}} The tribes to which British Pakistanis belong include Jats, Ahirs, Gujjars, Awans, Arains, Rajputs and several others, all of whom are spread throughout Pakistan and north India. As a result, there are some common genealogical origins within these tribes.{{Cite book | title=Culture, Creation, and Procreation: Concepts of Kinship in South Asian Practice | pages=81–157 |author1=Monika Böck |author2=Aparna Rao | publisher=Berghahn Books | year=2000| isbn=1-57181-912-6 | quote=... Kalesh kinship is indeed orchestrated through a rigorous system of patrilineal descent defined by lineage endogamy}} Some British Pakistanis view cousin or in-tribe marriages as a way of preserving this ancient tribal tradition and maintaining a sense of brotherhood, an extension of the biradri (brotherhood) system which underpins community support networks.{{cite book|last1=Childs|first1=Peter|title=Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781134755547|page=386|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qHiVvKbSLX8C&pg=PA386|last2=Storry|first2=Michael}}{{cite web |url=http://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wdie-07/DiCoIdFo.htm |title=Diasporic Communities and Identity Formation |author=Zafar Khan |publisher=University of Luton |access-date=26 December 2010}}

Most British Pakistanis prefer to marry within their own ethnic group. In 2009, it was estimated that six in ten British Pakistanis chose a spouse from Pakistan.

According to the British Home Office, cases involving Pakistan are routinely the most common country in which cases of forced marriage are investigated. In 2014, 38% of the cases of forced marriage investigated involved families of Pakistani origin.{{Cite web |title=Forced Marriage Unit: Statistics: January to December 2014 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/412667/FMU_Stats_2014.pdf |access-date=12 July 2021 |website=gov.uk}} This figure rose to 49% in 2022, around three-quarters of victims were females and just over half of cases involved persons under 21.{{cite web |title=Forced Marriage Unit statistics 2022: 10.1 Pakistan |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/forced-marriage-unit-statistics-2022/forced-marriage-unit-statistics-2022#focus-countries-breakdown |website=20 June 2023 |publisher=Forced Marriage Unit; Home Office and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office}}

60% of the Pakistani forced marriages handled by the British High Commission assistance unit in Islamabad are linked to the small towns of Bhimber and Kotli and the region of Mirpur in Azad Kashmir.{{cite web |url=http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6040745&navcode=94 |title=Cry freedom – Features – TES Connect |publisher=Tes.co.uk |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202092537/http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6040745&navcode=94 |archive-date=2 February 2014 |url-status=dead }}

According to 2017 data by the Forced Marriage Unit (FMU), a joint effort between the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, of the 439 callers related to Pakistan, 78.8% were female and 21.0% were male, 13.7% were under the age of 15 and another 13.0% were aged 16–17. Over 85% of the cases dealt with by the FMU were dealt with entirely in the UK, preventing the marriage before it could take place. Victims were in some cases forced to sponsor a visa for the spouse.{{Cite book|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/730155/2017_FMU_statistics_FINAL.pdf|title=Forced Marriage Unit Statistics 2017|publisher=Home Office & Foreign & Commonwealth Office|date=16 March 2018|pages=12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180804150819/https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/730155/2017_FMU_statistics_FINAL.pdf|archive-date=4 August 2018}}

{{See also|Child sexual abuse in the United Kingdom#Group-based child sexual exploitation}}

British-Pakistani men may be over-represented relative to their population share in gang sexual grooming of children. It has been estimated that around 7 per cent of grooming suspects in 2023 had Pakistani backgrounds, whereas British Pakistanis make up 2.7 per cent of the England and Wales population. A lack of historical data on the ethnicity of perpetrators makes it difficult to judge whether the role of British-Pakistani gangs in sexual offences against children has changed over time.{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c379bdb3-25fa-4554-b045-51ef3e53abae|title='Anybody can be a victim': what do UK grooming gangs look like today?|first=Jennifer|last=Williams|work=Financial Times|date=10 January 2025|accessdate=11 January 2025}} The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, which investigated sexual exploitation in Rotherham over the period 1997 to 2013, found that the majority of known perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65174096|title=Grooming gangs and ethnicity: What does the evidence say?|first=Tom|last=Symonds|publisher=BBC News|date=4 April 2023|accessdate=11 January 2025}} However research regarding offender ethnicity is scarce and often relies upon poor quality data. Therefore its challenging to draw conclusions about the ethnicity of offenders, but it is likely that no single community or culture is uniquely prone to offending.{{Cite web |date=December 2020 |title=Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation Characteristics of Offenders |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5fd87e348fa8f54d5733f532/Group-based_CSE_Paper.pdf}}

Data from the 2021 Census shows that 33% of British Pakistanis in England and Wales hold degree level qualifications, compared to 31% of White British people. This has increased since 1991, when the figures for both groups holding a degree were 7% and 13%, respectively.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10688017/White-British-adults-less-qualified-than-ethnic-minorities.html |title=White British adults 'less qualified' than ethnic minorities |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=25 January 2015}}{{Cite web |title=Ethnic group by highest level qualification, England and Wales, Census 2021 - Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/datasets/ethnicgroupbyhighestlevelqualificationenglandandwalescensus2021 |access-date=2023-08-29 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}}

25% of British Pakistanis in England and Wales did not have qualifications, compared to 18% of White British people, making them of one of the least qualified major groups.{{cite web |url=http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/how-are-ethnic-inequalities-in-education-changing.pdf |title=How are ethnic inequalities in education changing? |publisher=Joseph Rowntree Foundation |access-date=25 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712195151/http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/how-are-ethnic-inequalities-in-education-changing.pdf |archive-date=12 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news|last=Paton|first=Graeme|date=10 March 2014|title=White British adults 'less qualified' than ethnic minorities|journal=The Daily Telegraph|language=en-GB|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10688017/White-British-adults-less-qualified-than-ethnic-minorities.html|access-date=2020-05-09|issn=0307-1235}}

According to Department for Education statistics for the 2021–22 academic year, British Pakistani pupils in England attained below the national average for academic performance at A-Level, but above the national average for GCSE level. 15.8% of British Pakistani pupils achieved at least 3 As at A Level{{cite web |title=Students getting 3 A grades or better at A level |url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/a-levels-apprenticeships-further-education/students-aged-16-to-18-achieving-3-a-grades-or-better-at-a-level/latest#by-ethnicity |website=gov.uk |date=23 November 2023 |publisher=Department for Education |access-date=26 May 2022}} and an average score of 49.1 was achieved in Attainment 8 scoring at GCSE level. In 2021, 31.5% of Pakistani students in England who were eligible for free school meals achieved a strong pass in English and Maths. This figure is 9% higher than the national average of 22.5%.{{Cite web|title=GCSE English and maths results|url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/education-skills-and-training/11-to-16-years-old/a-to-c-in-english-and-maths-gcse-attainment-for-children-aged-14-to-16-key-stage-4/latest#by-ethnicity-and-eligibility-for-free-school-meals|access-date=24 March 2021|website=ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk|language=en}}

In 2023, a British Pakistani girl achieved a record 34 GCSE qualifications. In addition, her IQ was registered at 161, which put her ahead of Albert Einstein{{cite web | url=https://www.geo.tv/latest/506691-uk-based-pakistani-girl-sets-new-record-with-34-gcses | title=UK-based Pakistani girl sets new record with 34 GCSEs }}

Several Muslim schools also cater to British Pakistani pupils.{{cite web|url=http://www.docs.hss.ed.ac.uk/education/creid/Reports/32_MFEES_FinalRpt.pdf|title=Muslim Families' Educational Experiences in England and Scotland: Final Report|work=Centre for Research in Education Inclusion and Diversity|date=March 2013|access-date=10 April 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/865920/8-muslim-schools-in-the-top-50-exam-league-in-england/|title=8 Muslim schools in top 50 exam league in England|work=The Express Tribune|date=7 April 2015|access-date=10 April 2015}}

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There are 71,000 UK-domiciled British Pakistani students in the 2021–22 academic year, this represents 4.2% of all UK-domiciled students.{{Cite web |title=Who's studying in HE?: Personal characteristics {{!}} HESA |url=https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/whos-in-he/characteristics |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=www.hesa.ac.uk}} In 2017, approximately 16,480 British Pakistani students were admitted to university, almost a two-fold increase from 8,460 in 2006.{{Cite web |date=2017 |title=DR2_024_05 Acceptances by ethnic group |url=https://www.ucas.com/file/139591/download?token=IJUQE66p |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308131855/https://www.ucas.com/file/139591/download?token=IJUQE66p |archive-date=2021-03-08 |website=ucas.com}}

In 2021, 58.4% of British Pakistanis chose to continue their studies at the university level. This was a higher rate than average nationally (44%), and higher than the rate for White British (39%).{{Cite web |title=Widening participation in higher education: 2022 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/widening-participation-in-higher-education-2022 |access-date=2023-09-03 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}

Science and mathematics are the most popular subjects at A-Level and degree level among the youngest generation of British Pakistanis, as they begin to establish themselves within the field.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/white-students-avoid-maths-and-science-919536.html |title=White students 'avoid maths and science' – Education News, Education |work=The Independent |access-date=27 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121172639/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/white-students-avoid-maths-and-science-919536.html |archive-date=21 November 2008 }}

In addition, there are over 10,000 Pakistani international students who enrol and study at British universities and educational institutions each year.{{cite news|url=http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/printable/6543/ |title=Don't close the door to Asian students |work=Spiked |date=14 April 2009 |access-date=5 November 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203123823/http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/printable/6543/ |archive-date=3 February 2012}} There are numerous student and cultural associations formed by Pakistani pupils studying at British universities.

Urdu courses are available in the UK and can be studied at GCSE and A-Level.{{cite web|url=http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/urdu/gcse/urdu-4645|title=Urdu (4645)|work=AQA|access-date=21 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029112719/http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/urdu/gcse/urdu-4645|archive-date=29 October 2014|url-status=dead}} Urdu degrees are offered by several British universities and institutes, while several others are also hoping to offer courses in Urdu, open to established speakers as well as beginners, in the future.{{cite web |url=http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/news/s/1202978_urdu_degree_first_for_city_universities_ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914063504/http://www.theasiannews.co.uk/news/s/1202978_urdu_degree_first_for_city_universities_ |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 September 2012 |title=Urdu degree 'first' for city universities |work=The Asian News |date=6 April 2010 |access-date=27 April 2010 }}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-32086223|title=UK's first Urdu degree offered by Manchester Metropolitan University|work=BBC|date=27 March 2015|access-date=31 March 2015|first=Athar|last=Ahmad}}{{cite web|url=https://www.soas.ac.uk/languagecentre/languages/urdu/|title=Urdu at SOAS Language Centre|work=SOAS|access-date=31 March 2015}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/evening/level/syllabus/urdu.aspx|title=Urdu - King's College London|access-date=31 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123942/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/evening/level/syllabus/urdu.aspx|url-status=dead}}

The Punjabi language is also offered at GCSE and A-Level,{{cite web|url=http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/languages/gcse/panjabi-4680|title=AQA – Languages – GCSE – Panjabi|access-date=18 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925015121/http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/languages/gcse/panjabi-4680|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=dead}} and taught as a course by two universities: SOAS, University of London (SOAS){{cite web|url=http://www.soas.ac.uk/southasia/languages/panjabi/|title=Panjabi: Languages of South Asia at SOAS: University of London|publisher=University of London|access-date=18 May 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144203/http://www.soas.ac.uk/southasia/languages/panjabi/|url-status=dead}} and King's College London.{{cite web|url=http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/about/languages/panjabi.aspx|title=King's College London - Panjabi|access-date=18 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201202030/http://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/mlc/about/languages/panjabi.aspx|archive-date=1 February 2014 |url-status=dead}} Pashto is presently taught at SOAS and King's College London as well.{{cite journal|last1=Iqbal|first1=Jamshed|last2=Zaman|first2=Amir|last3=Ghafar|first3=Abdul|title=Inclusion of Pashto in O'Level Cambridge Education|journal=Department of Education, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, Pakistan|date=June 2013}}

File:Mango and cross sections.jpg retailers,{{cite web |url=http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/Articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=218912 |title=Asda scores a first with Pakistani mangoes deal |author=Richard Ford |publisher=The Grocer |access-date=15 July 2011}} are now sold in prestigious department stores, such as Harrods and Selfridges.{{cite web |url=http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/3170.0/ |title=Asian View: The joys of eating mangos |author=Rafiq Raja |date=29 June 2001 |publisher=Bournemouth Echo |access-date=15 July 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Harrods-Selfridges-to-host-Pak-mangoes/Article1-9123.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130208082215/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Harrods-Selfridges-to-host-Pak-mangoes/Article1-9123.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 February 2013 |title=Harrods & Selfridges to host Pakistani mangos |author=Nabanita Sircar |work=Hindustan Times|access-date=15 July 2011}}]]

Location has had a great impact on the success of British Pakistanis. The existence of a North-South divide leaves those in the north of England economically depressed, although there is a small concentration of more highly educated Pakistanis living in the suburbs of Greater Manchester and London, as some Pakistani immigrants have taken advantage of the trading opportunities and entrepreneurial environment which exist in major UK cities.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediadias00embe_175|url-access=limited|title=Encyclopedia of diasporas: immigrant and refugee cultures around the world |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediadias00embe_175/page/n502 477]–484|publisher=Springer |year=2005 |isbn=9780306483219}} Material deprivation and under-performing schools of the inner city have impeded social mobility for many Azad Kashmiris.

British Pakistanis based in large cities have found making the transition into the professional middle class easier than those based in peripheral towns. This is because cities like London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Glasgow and Oxford have provided a more economically encouraging environment than the small towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire.

On the other hand, the decline in the British textile boom brought about economic disparities for Pakistanis who worked and settled in the smaller mill towns following the 1960s, with properties failing to appreciate enough and incomes having shrunk.{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/843740/in-britain-bangladeshis-fare-better-than-pakistanis/|title=In Britain, Bangladeshis fare better than Pakistanis|work=The Express Tribune|date=25 February 2015|access-date=26 February 2015}}

Most of the initial funds for entrepreneurial activities were historically collected by workers in food processing and clothing factories.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4316153.stm |title=Showing 'crap town' Luton in new light |date= 4 March 2005|work=BBC News |access-date=20 December 2010}} The funds were often given a boost by wives saving "pin money" and interest-free loans exchanged between fellow migrants. By the 1980s, British Pakistanis began dominating the ethnic and halal food businesses, Indian restaurants, Asian fabric shops, and travel agencies. Other Pakistanis secured ownership of textile manufacturing or wholesale businesses and took advantage of cheap family labour. The once multimillion-pound company Joe Bloggs is an example.

Clothing imports from Southeast Asia began to affect the financial success of these mill-owning Pakistanis in the 1990s. However, some Pakistani families based in the major cities managed to buck this trend by selling or renting out units in their former factories.

Statistics from the 2011 census show that Pakistani communities in England, particularly in the North and the Midlands, are disproportionately affected by low pay, unemployment and poverty.{{Cite web|url=http://www.poverty.org.uk/|title=The Poverty Site|website=poverty.org|access-date=1 November 2015|archive-date=16 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116123329/http://www.poverty.org.uk/67/index.shtml?2|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |title=Have ethnic inequalities in employment persisted between 1991 and 2011? |url=http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/have-ethnic-inequalities-in-employment-persisted-between-1991-2011%20(1).pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712200831/http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/have-ethnic-inequalities-in-employment-persisted-between-1991-2011%20(1).pdf |archive-date=12 July 2014 |access-date=12 July 2021 |website=ethnicity.ac.uk}} 32% cent of British Pakistanis live in a deprived neighbourhood, compared to 10% for England overall.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/ethnicity-and-deprivation-in-england-how-likely-are-ethnic-minorities-to-live-in-deprived-neighbourhoods%20(1).pdf |title=Have ethnic inequalities in employment persisted between 1991 and 2011? |access-date=1 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108220436/http://www.ethnicity.ac.uk/medialibrary/briefingsupdated/ethnicity-and-deprivation-in-england-how-likely-are-ethnic-minorities-to-live-in-deprived-neighbourhoods%20(1).pdf |archive-date=8 January 2016 |url-status=dead }} Consequently, many fall within the welfare net.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/us/21devon.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1362153620-dt4dSb0/Ho+eFwZqIWBdMg|title=Pakistanis Find U.S. an Easier Fit Than Britain|work=The New York Times|date=21 August 2006|access-date=5 October 2014|first=Neil|last=MacFarquhar}} In Scotland, however, Pakistanis were less likely to live in a deprived area than the average.{{Cite web |title=Equality Evidence Finder |url=http://www.gov.scot/Topics/People/Equality/Equalities/DataGrid/Ethnicity/EthPov |access-date=12 July 2021 |website=gov.scot}} Sir Anwar Pervez, owner of one of the UK's largest companies, the Bestway group,{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-277713-British-Pakistani-group-acquires-pharmacy-business-in-%C2%A3725m-deal|title=British Pakistani group acquires pharmacy business in £725m deal|work=The News|date=11 October 2014|access-date=13 October 2014|first=Murtaza Ali|last=Shah}} and his family have assets of £1.364 billion, placing them 125th on the Sunday Times Rich List 2021.{{cite news|url=https://www.asian-voice.com/News/UK/The-Sunday-Times-Rich-List-2021|title=The Sunday Times Rich List 2021|work=Asian Voice|date=25 May 2021|accessdate=17 April 2022}}

In addition, several wealthy Pakistanis, including prominent politicians, own millions of pounds' worth of assets and properties in the UK, such as holiday homes.{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1160162/shahbaz-owns-assets-worth-rs153m-in-uk-rs108m-in-pakistan|title=Shahbaz owns assets worth Rs 153m in UK, Rs 108m in Pakistan|work=Dawn|date=29 January 2015|access-date=12 April 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-2-136185-Pakistani-politician-buys-Tony-Blairs-family-home|title=Pakistani politician buys Tony Blair's family home|work=The News|date=7 October 2012|access-date=12 April 2015|first=Murtaza Ali|last=Shah}}{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/news/10915100/Inside-Benazir-Bhuttos-10-million-country-retreat.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/news/10915100/Inside-Benazir-Bhuttos-10-million-country-retreat.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Inside Benazir Bhutto's £10 million country retreat|work=The Telegraph|date=20 June 2014|access-date=12 April 2015}}{{cbignore}}{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1052829/pakistani-politicians-london-mansion-becomes-the-talk-of-the-town|title=Pakistani politician's London mansion becomes the talk of the town|work=Dawn|date=30 October 2013|access-date=12 April 2015}} In 2017, 19.8% of Pakistani secondary school students were eligible for free school meals, compared to 13.1% of White British pupils. Amongst pupils in Key Stage 1, 14.1% of both Pakistani and White British children were eligible for free school meals.{{Cite web|url=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/latest_percentage_eligible_for_f|title=Latest percentage eligible for Free School Meals by ethnicity - a Freedom of Information request to Department for Education|date=20 May 2018|website=WhatDoTheyKnow}}

Research from the Resolution Foundation published in 2020 has found that British Pakistanis hold the third highest median total household net wealth among major British ethnic groups at £232,200.{{Cite web |last=Bangham |first=George |date=December 2020 |title=A gap that won't close |url=https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2020/12/A-gap-that-wont-close.pdf |access-date=21 May 2023}}

File:London Black Cab - April 2007.jpg

Since 2004, the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities have consistently had the lowest rate of employment out of all ethnic groups, although this figure has improved from 44% in 2004 to 61% in 2022. This is in comparison to the nationwide figures of 73% in 2004 and 76% in 2022.{{cite web |title=Employment: By ethnicity over time |url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/employment/employment/latest#by-ethnicity-over-time |website=gov.uk |date=28 November 2023 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=1 December 2023}} In 2022, the combined group were also the most likely ethnic group to be economically inactive with 33% of 16 to 64-year-olds out of work and not looking for employment, rising to 48% for Pakistani and Bangladeshi women compared to 24% of White British women.{{cite web |title=Ethnicity facts and figures: Economic inactivity |url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/unemployment-and-economic-inactivity/economic-inactivity/latest#by-ethnicity-and-gender |website=service.gov.uk |date=28 November 2023 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=1 December 2023}} According to figures in the same year for 16-64 year olds, the combined group also had the lowest employment figure at 61% and the largest employment discrepancy by gender at 75% for men and 46% for women.{{Cite web|title=Employment|url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/employment/employment/latest#by-ethnicity-and-gender|access-date=1 December 2023|website=www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk|date=3 December 2023 |language=en}} The average hourly pay for the combined group in the same year was the lowest out of all ethnicity groups at £12.03.{{cite web |title=Ethnicity fact and figures: Average hourly pay |url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/pay-and-income/average-hourly-pay/latest#by-ethnicity-over-time |website=gov.uk |date=27 July 2022 |publisher=Office for National Statistics}} In 2019, before the two ethnicities were combined, Pakistanis had the lowest pay out of all ethnicities with a slightly lower median hourly pay than Bangladeshis at £10.55 compared to £10.58.{{Cite web |date=12 October 2020 |title=Ethnicity pay gaps - Office for National Statistics|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/earningsandworkinghours/articles/ethnicitypaygapsingreatbritain/2019 |access-date=22 March 2023 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}} In the 2017 to 2020 period, 47% of the community lived in households classified as low income (after housing costs), the second highest proportion after Bangladeshis, compared to 22% of all households in the UK.{{cite web |title=People in low income households |url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/work-pay-and-benefits/pay-and-income/people-in-low-income-households/latest#by-ethnicity-over-time-after-housing-costs |website=gov.uk |date=16 June 2022 |publisher=Department for Work and Pensions |access-date=26 May 2023}}

The Economist has argued that the lack of a second income in households was "the main reason" why many Bangladeshi and Pakistani families live below the poverty line and the resulting high proportion reliant on welfare payments from the government.

According to the 2011 Census:{{Cite web|title=2011 Census analysis - Office for National Statistics|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/ethnicity/articles/ethnicityandthelabourmarket2011censusenglandandwales/2014-11-13|website=www.ons.gov.uk|access-date=2020-05-04}}

Data from the 2011 Census shows British Pakistanis had one of the lowest employment rates amongst other ethnic groups and a lower than average employment rate in all regions of England and Wales, reported at 49%. The statistics also showed Pakistanis had one of the highest rates of unemployment at 12%.

Around 60% of British Pakistani women were economically inactive and 15% were unemployed in 2011. Amongst older employed Pakistani women, many work as packers, bottlers, canners, fillers, or sewing machinists. In 2012, Pakistani women began to surge into the labour market, although this was noted as many merely moving from economic inactivity to unemployment.{{cite news|date=22 December 2012|title=Asian Muslim women – All about taking part|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/news/britain/21568733-hidden-explanation-britains-surprising-job-numbers-bangladeshi-and-pakistani-women-are|access-date=8 January 2013}}

Office for National Statistics figures for 2020 show British Pakistanis are far more likely to be self-employed than any other ethnic group, at 25%.{{Cite web|title=Coronavirus and self-employment in the UK - Office for National Statistics|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/coronavirusandselfemploymentintheuk/2020-04-24#levels-of-self-employment-varies-across-different-ethnic-groups|website=www.ons.gov.uk|access-date=2020-05-04}} Traditionally, many British Pakistanis have been self-employed, with many working in the transport industry or family-run businesses in the retail sector.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, the Labour Force Survey showed that the employment rate for British Pakistanis stood at 57% and unemployment rates were 7%.{{Cite web|title=A09: Labour market status by ethnic group - Office for National Statistics|url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourmarketstatusbyethnicgroupa09|website=www.ons.gov.uk|access-date=2020-05-04}}

According to General Medical Council statistics as of March 2024, there were 21,280 doctors from Pakistan registered in the UK,Arfeen, Zakia et al. “[https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11216068/ An opportunity to be grateful for? Exploring discourses about international medical graduates from India and Pakistan to the UK between 1960 and 1980].” BMJ global health vol. 9,6 e014840. 27 Jun. 2024, doi:10.1136/bmjgh-2023-014840: "Looking more broadly at all IMGs within the UK, India and Pakistan were the top two countries for all IMG joiners in 2021 and there are currently 34 469 from India and 21 280 from Pakistan (...)" and 2,100 dentists of Pakistani ethnicity were registered with the General Dental Council as of 2017.{{cite web|title=General Dental Council FOI|url=https://www.gdc-uk.org/DownloadHelper.aspx?docID=56cf24f5-8edf-401b-8782-34fd61469003|date=2019|website=General Dental Council|access-date=4 May 2020}} Pakistani-origin doctors make up 5.7% of all doctors in the UKhttps://www.gmc-uk.org/-/media/gmc-site/about/eea_nationality_report_v13.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=August 2024}} and Pakistan is one of the largest source countries of foreign young doctors in the UK.{{cite news|url=http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20121012&page=23|title=Where have all the doctors gone?|work=The Friday Times|date=12 October 2012|access-date=5 March 2015|first=Abdul Majeed|last=Abid|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121123191512/http://www.thefridaytimes.com/beta3/tft/article.php?issue=20121012&page=23|archive-date=23 November 2012|url-status=dead}} As of 2021, Pakistanis made 8% of the NHS in England's junior doctors, 4% of the consultants and 10% of the other specialists.Stockton, I., & Warner, M. (2024, January). [https://ifs.org.uk/publications/ethnic-diversity-nhs-doctors Ethnic diversity of NHS doctors]. Institute for Fiscal Studies, p. 10: "Pakistani, making up 8% of junior doctors, 4% of consultants and 10% of other specialists."

In the housing rental market, Pakistani landlords first rented out rooms to incoming migrants, who were mostly Pakistani themselves. As these renters settled in Britain and prospered to the point where they could afford to buy their own homes, non-Asian university students became these landlords' main potential customers. By 2000, several British Pakistanis had established low-cost rental properties throughout England.

British Pakistanis are most likely to live in owner-occupied Victorian terraced houses of the inner city.{{cite web |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=99490§ioncode=26 |title=A question of collar |author=Ceri Peach |date=23 August 1996|website=timesshighereducation.co.uk |access-date=26 December 2010}} In the increasing suburban movement amongst Pakistanis living in Britain,Phillips, D., Davis, C. and Ratcliffe, P. (2007), British Asian narratives of urban space, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 32: 217–234. {{ISSN|0020-2754}} this trend is most conspicuous among children of Pakistani immigrants.{{cite web|url=http://www.manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/display/?id=4322 |title='Myths' threaten racial harmony, say population experts (The University of Manchester) |publisher=Manchester.ac.uk |date=22 January 2009 |access-date=27 April 2010}} Pakistanis tend to place a strong emphasis on owning their own home and have one of the highest rates of home ownership in the UK at 73% in 2003–04, slightly higher than that of the White British population.{{cite web |url=http://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/43768/19928.pdf |title=Policy briefing Home ownership |pages=4–6 |publisher=Shelter |date=April 2006 |access-date=3 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716205304/http://england.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/43768/19928.pdf |archive-date=16 July 2011 |url-status=dead }} The 2021 census for England and Wales recorded a slight decline of ownership with 60% of Pakistanis either owning their home with a mortgage (37%) or outright (23%). 26% rent privately or live rent free and the remaining 14% rent from social housing.

Many first generation British Pakistanis have invested in second homes or holiday homes in Pakistan.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/mystery-of-the-missing-father-of-kidnapped-boy-1920113.html |title=Mystery of the missing father of kidnapped boy |author=Jerome Taylor |date= 12 March 2010|work=The Independent |access-date=20 December 2010}} They have purchased houses next to their villages and sometimes even in more expensive cities, such as Islamabad and Lahore. Upon reaching the retirement age, a small number hand over their houses in Britain to their offspring and settle in their second homes in Pakistan. This relocation multiplies the value of their British state pensions. Investing savings in Pakistan has limited the funding available for investing in their UK businesses. In comparison, other migrant groups, like South Asian migrants from East Africa, have benefited from investing only in Britain.

The majority of British Pakistanis are considered to be working or middle class.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6990253/John-Denhams-right-Its-class-not-race-that-determines-Britains-have-nots.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117140717/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/6990253/John-Denhams-right-Its-class-not-race-that-determines-Britains-have-nots.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 January 2010 |title=John Denham's right: It's class, not race, that determines Britain's have-nots |first=Andrew |last=Gilligan |date=14 January 2010 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |access-date=20 December 2010}} According to the 2011 Census, 16.5% of Pakistanis living in England and Wales were in managerial or professional occupations, 19.3% in intermediate occupations, and 23.5% in routine or manual occupations. The remaining 24.4% and 16.3% were classified under never worked or long-term unemployed and full-time students.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/uk-population-by-ethnicity/demographics/socioeconomic-status/latest#socio-economic-groups-by-ethnicity|title=Socioeconomic status|website=www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk|date=22 August 2018 |language=en|access-date=2020-04-29}}

Whilst British Pakistanis living in the Midlands and the North are more likely to be unemployed or suffer from social exclusion, some Pakistani communities in London and the south-east are said to be "fairly prosperous". It was estimated that, in 2001, around 45% of British Pakistanis living in both inner and outer London were middle class.{{cite book |title=London's Turning: The Making of Thames Gateway |author-link=Michael J. Rustin |author=Philip Cohen |publisher=Ashgate Publishing|location=London |isbn=978-0-7546-7063-6 |pages=137, 138 |date=January 2008 }}

Notable films that depict the lives of British Pakistanis include My Beautiful Laundrette, which received a BAFTA award nomination, and the popular East is East which won a BAFTA award, a British Independent Film Award and a London Film Critics' Circle Award. The Infidel looked at a British Pakistani family living in East London,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8114403.stm |title=Omid Djalili becomes an Infidel |date=23 June 2009 |publisher=BBC |access-date=3 January 2011}} and depicted religious issues and the identity crisis facing a young member of the family. The film Four Lions looked at issues of religion and extremism. It followed British Pakistanis living in Sheffield in the North of England. The sequel to East is East, called West is West, was released in the UK on 25 February 2011.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2010/oct/19/west-is-west-exclusive-clip |title=West Is West: world exclusive clip |date=19 October 2010 |work=The Guardian |access-date=3 January 2011}}

Citizen Khan is a sitcom developed by Adil Ray which is based on a British Pakistani family in Sparkhill, Birmingham, dubbed the "capital of British Pakistan".{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vh04r|title=Citizen Khan|publisher=BBC|access-date=1 November 2012}} The soap opera EastEnders also features many British Pakistani characters.{{cite news|url=http://www.ok.co.uk/tv/eastenders-spoiler-shabnam-masood-leave-albert-square|title=EastEnders spoiler: Shabnam prepares to leave for Pakistan after the death of her son|work=OK Magazine|date=24 August 2015|access-date=18 October 2015|first=Deepika|last=Rajani|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010021028/http://www.ok.co.uk/tv/eastenders-spoiler-shabnam-masood-leave-albert-square|archive-date=10 October 2015|url-status=dead}} Pakistani Lollywood films have been screened in British cinemas.{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/659006/blockbuster-movie-waar-to-release-in-the-uk-on-january-17/|title=Waar set to run on 23 UK screens from January 17|work=The Express Tribune|date=14 January 2014|access-date=21 May 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.filmdates.co.uk/films/2649-bol/|title=Bol|work=Filmdates.co.uk|access-date=21 May 2014}} Indian Bollywood films are also shown in British cinemas and are popular with many second generation British Pakistanis and British Asians.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/may/29/india |title=Brits in Bollywood |author= Sarfraz Manzoor|website=theguardian.com |date=29 May 2008 |access-date=17 January 2011}}

BBC has news services in Urdu and Pashto.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/|title=BBC Urdu|website=BBC Urdu|access-date=28 May 2014}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pashto/|title=BBC Pashto|website=BBC Pashto|access-date=28 May 2014}}

In 2005, the BBC showed an evening of programmes under the title Pakistani, Actually, offering an insight into the lives of Pakistanis living in Britain and some of the issues faced by the community.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/threecounties/content/articles/2005/02/25/luton_actually_feature.shtml |title=Beds Herts and Bucks – Read This – Luton, actually |publisher=BBC |access-date=27 April 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3636775872610967095# |title=Luton Actually BBC2 Pakistani Actually |access-date=27 April 2010}} The executive producer of the series said, "These documentaries provide just a snapshot of contemporary life among British Pakistanis—a community who are often misunderstood, neglected or stereotyped."

The Pakistani channels of GEO TV, ARY Digital and many others are available to watch on subscription. These channels are based in Pakistan and cater to the Pakistani diaspora, as well as anyone of South Asian origin. They feature news, sports and entertainment, with some channels broadcast in Urdu/Hindi.

Mishal Husain is of Pakistani descent, and a newsreader and presenter for the BBC.{{cite web |url=http://theasians.co.uk/Personality-Mishal-Husain-a-pretty-asian-face-of-BBC-10 |title=Mishal Husain, a pretty asian face of BBC |publisher=The Asians |date=29 January 2010 |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101006162141/http://www.theasians.co.uk/Personality-Mishal-Husain-a-pretty-asian-face-of-BBC-10 |archive-date=6 October 2010 |url-status=dead }} Saira Khan hosts the BBC children's programme Beat the Boss. Martin Bashir is a Christian Pakistani{{cite news|last = Wells|first = Matt|url = https://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/jan/22/broadcasting.g2 |title = Talk to me | work = The Guardian| date = 22 January 2003 |location=London}} who worked for ITV, then American Broadcasting Company, before becoming BBC News Religious Affairs correspondent in 2016.

The BBC Asian Network is a radio station available across the entire UK and is aimed at Britons of South Asian origin under 35 years of age.{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/services/channels_radio.shtml |title=About the BBC |publisher=BBC |access-date=20 December 2010 |archive-date=10 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210150210/http://www.bbc.co.uk/aboutthebbc/services/channels_radio.shtml |url-status=dead }} Apart from this popular station, there are many other national radio stations for or run by the British Pakistani community, including Sunrise and Kismat Radio of London.

Regional British Pakistani stations include Asian Sound of Manchester, Radio XL and Apni Awaz of Bradford and Sunrise Radio Yorkshire which based in Bradford.{{cite web |url=http://www.sunriseradio.fm/innerpage.php?rank=1 |title=About Sunrise Radio |website=Sunrise Radio Yorkshire |access-date=20 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119205500/http://www.sunriseradio.fm/innerpage.php?rank=1 |archive-date=19 January 2011}} These radio stations generally run programmes in a variety of South Asian languages.

The Pakistani newspaper the Daily Jang has the largest circulation of any daily Urdu-language newspaper in the world.{{cite news |title=Pakistan profile |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12965785 |access-date=2 August 2014 |work=BBC News |date=11 September 2013}} It is sold at several Pakistani newsagents and grocery stores across the UK. Urdu newspapers, books and other periodical publications are available in libraries which have a dedicated Asian languages service.{{cite web |url=http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500144/library_services_in_the_community/548/asian_library_services/1 |title=Asian Library Services |publisher=Manchester City Council |access-date=17 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929111955/http://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500144/library_services_in_the_community/548/asian_library_services/1 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |url-status=dead }} Examples of British-based newspapers written in English include the Asian News (published by Trinity Mirror) and the Eastern Eye. These are free weekly newspapers aimed at all British Asians.{{cite web |title=Contact Us|url=http://menmedia.co.uk/asiannews/contact_us/s/1013220_contact_us |author=Asian News |date=9 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522014425/http://menmedia.co.uk/asiannews/contact_us/s/1013220_contact_us|archive-date=22 May 2010}}{{cite web |url=http://www.amg.biz/eastern_eye.asp |title=Eastern Eye |publisher=Asian Media & Marketing Group |access-date=20 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216083056/http://www.amg.biz/eastern_eye.asp |archive-date=16 December 2010 |url-status=dead }}

British Pakistanis involved in print media include Sarfraz Manzoor, who is a regular columnist for The Guardian,{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global/2007/jun/03/resource6 |title=Sarfraz Manzoor Profile |work=The Guardian |date= 3 June 2008|access-date=20 December 2010}} one of the largest and most popular newspaper groups in the UK. Anila Baig is a feature writer at The Sun, the biggest-selling newspaper in the UK.[http://www.abc.org.uk/cgi-bin/gen5?runprog=nav/abchist&c=1146940811370100101140082362014694&breadcrumbonly=y&p=&type=ind&id=15930190&menuid=abcdata|newspdata|nationalnews2 The Sun] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210712203716/https://www.abc.org.uk/page-not-found |date=12 July 2021 }}, Audit Bureau of Circulations. Retrieved 20 December 2010

{{See also|British Asians in politics of the United Kingdom}}

File:Sadiq Khan.png is the current Mayor of London since 2016.{{cite web |year=2018 |title=Sadiq Khan: The World's 100 Most Influential People |url=https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217530/sadiq-khan/ |access-date=22 April 2018 |website=Time 100 |publisher=Time |language=en-us}}]]

British Pakistanis are represented in politics at all levels. In 2019 there were fifteen British Pakistani MPs in the House of Commons.{{Cite web|url=https://dailytimes.com.pk/519639/15-british-pakistanis-elected-as-mps-in-uk-daily-times/|title=15 British Pakistanis elected as MPs in UK|website=dailytimes.com.pk|date=13 December 2019}} Notable members have included Shadow Secretary of State for Justice Sadiq Khan{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/justice-secretary-chris-grayling-in-uturn-defendants-on-legal-aid-will-still-be-able-to-choose-their-solicitor-8682397.html|title=Justice Secretary Chris Grayling in U-turn: Defendants on legal aid will still be able to choose their solicitor|last=Grice|first=Andrew|date=1 July 2013|work=The Independent|access-date=4 July 2013}} and Home Secretary, Sajid Javid,{{cite web |last1=Javid |first1=Sajid |author-link1=Sajid Javid |title=As home secretary, I'm determined to fix the Windrush injustices - Sajid Javid |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/19/compensation-scheme-windrush-amends-sajid-javid |website=The Guardian |access-date=19 July 2018 |date=19 July 2018}} described by The Guardian as a 'rising star' in the Tory party.{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/jan/31/tory-party-rising-stars-fading | work=The Guardian | first=Nicholas | last=Watt | title=Conservatives tories tory party, Boris Johnson, Michael Gove, William Hague, David Davis (Politics), George Osborne, Liam Fox, Politics | date=31 January 2013}} The Guardian stated that, "The treasury minister is highly regarded on the right and would be the Tories' first Muslim leader", whereas The Independent said he could become the next Chancellor of the Exchequer,{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/donald-macintyres-sketch-hmm-sajid-javid-as-chancellor-why-not-9313956.html|title=Donald Macintyre's Sketch: Hmm. Sajid Javid as Chancellor? Why not?|last=Macintyre|first=Donald|date=1 May 2014|work=The Independent|access-date=18 May 2015}} which he did in July 2019.{{Cite news|last1=Sparrow|first1=Andrew|last2=Badshah|first2=Nadeem|last3=Busby|first3=Mattha|last4=O'Carroll|first4=Lisa|last5=Brooks|first5=Libby|date=2019-07-24|title=Boris Johnson cabinet: Sajid Javid, Priti Patel and Dominic Raab given top jobs – as it happened|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/live/2019/jul/24/boris-johnson-prepares-to-enter-downing-st-and-name-cabinet-theresa-may-prime-minister-live-news?page=with%3Ablock-5d3896fd8f0845f89e313ac8|access-date=2021-01-06|issn=0261-3077}} The 2019 United Kingdom general election saw a record number of British Pakistani candidates.{{Cite web|url=https://gulfnews.com/world/europe/record-number-of-british-pakistanis-contesting-uk-polls-1.1574780592729|title=Record number of British-Pakistanis contesting UK polls|website=gulfnews.com|date=26 November 2019 }}

Notable British Pakistanis in the House of Lords includes Minister for Faith and Communities and former chairman of the Conservative Party Sayeeda Warsi,[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200607/minutes/071016/ldordpap.htm#minproc House of Lords Minutes of Proceedings for Tuesday 15 October 2007.] House of Lords Information Office. Tariq Ahmad, Nazir Ahmed,{{cite news |title=Labour peer urged support for Tories in 2005 election |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/node/155036 |work=New Statesman |date=30 November 2006}}{{cite news |url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/364863/sterling-bounty-offered-for-obama-bush/ |title='Sterling' bounty offered for Obama, Bush |date=15 April 2012 |work=The Express Tribune}} and Qurban Hussain.{{Cite web|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/81510/the-story-of-two-pakistani-origin-lords/|title=The story of two Pakistani-origin Lords - The Express Tribune|date=2010-11-25|language=en-US|access-date=2016-08-24}} Mohammad Sarwar of the Labour Party was the first Muslim member of the British parliament, being elected in Glasgow in 1997 and serving until 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whoswho/U33889|title=SARWAR, Mohammad|work=Who's Who 2010 online edn|publisher=Oxford University Press|date=November 2009|access-date=12 April 2015}} In 2013, Sarwar quit British politics and returned to Pakistan, where he joined the government and briefly served as the Governor of Punjab.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/uks-first-muslim-mp-mohammad-sarwar-becomes-governor-of-pakistans-punjab-province-8746743.html|title=UK's first Muslim MP Mohammad Sarwar becomes governor of Pakistan's Punjab province|work=The Independent|date=5 August 2013|access-date=12 April 2015|first=Andrew|last=Buncombe}} Other politicians in Pakistan known to have held dual British citizenship include Rehman Malik,{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/377202/mps-with-dual-nationality-holding-dual-citizenship-is-no-crime-says-rehman-Malik/|title=MPs with dual-nationality: Holding dual citizenship is no crime says Rehman Malik|work=The Express Tribune|date=11 May 2012|access-date=12 April 2015}} Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan,{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1492355/Governor-claimed-244-weekly-housing-benefit-to-live-in-home-secretly-owned-by-his-brother.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1492355/Governor-claimed-244-weekly-housing-benefit-to-live-in-home-secretly-owned-by-his-brother.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Daniel|last=Foggo |title=Governor claimed £244 weekly housing benefit to live in home secretly owned by his brother|date=19 June 2005|access-date=12 April 2015}}{{cbignore}} and some members of the Pakistani national and provincial legislative assemblies.{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-68450-Dual-Nationality-:-Text-of-Short-Order|title=Dual Nationality : Text of Short Order|work=The News|date=20 September 2012|access-date=12 April 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/750875/verdict-on-dual-nationality-issue-court-sends-11-legislators-home|title=Verdict on dual nationality issue: Court sends 11 legislators home|work=Dawn|date=21 September 2012|access-date=12 April 2015}}

In 2007, 257 British Pakistanis were serving as elected councillors or mayors in Britain.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/world/asia/03iht-profile.1.6970573.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 | work=The New York Times | first=Jane | last=Perlez | date=3 August 2007 | access-date=27 April 2010 | title=Pakistani official tackles prejudice in Britain}} British Pakistanis make up a sizeable proportion of British voters and are known to make a difference in elections, both local and national.{{cite book|title=Race and politics: ethnic minorities and the British political system |page=82 |publisher=Routledge |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-422-79840-2}} They are much more active in the voting process, with 67% voting in the last general elections of 2005, compared to just over 60% for the country.{{cite news|last=Pasternicki |first=Adam |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8577143.stm |title=How Conservatives' software targets Asian voters |work=BBC News |date=22 March 2010 |access-date=27 April 2010}}

Apart from their involvement in domestic politics, the British Pakistani community also maintains keen focus on the politics of Pakistan and has served as an important soft power prerogative in historical, cultural, economic and bilateral relations between Pakistan and the United Kingdom.{{cite web|url=http://yougov.co.uk/news/2013/06/24/british-attitudes-its-pakistani-diaspora/|title=British attitudes to the Pakistani diaspora|work=YouGov|date=24 June 2013|access-date=12 August 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-5-187821-Pakistan-UK-ought-to-remain-positively-engaged|title=Pakistan, UK ought to remain positively engaged|work=The News|access-date=12 August 2012}} Major Pakistani political parties such as the Pakistan Muslim League (N),{{cite web|url=http://www.pmln.co.uk/|title=Official website of Pakistan Muslim League-N UK|work=Pakistan Muslim League (N)|access-date=17 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140604020938/http://www.pmln.co.uk/|archive-date=4 June 2014|url-status=dead}} Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf,{{cite web|url=http://www.insaf.pk/chapters/international/united-kingdom|title=Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf UK|work=Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf|access-date=17 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806020022/http://www.insaf.pk/chapters/international/united-kingdom|archive-date=6 August 2014|url-status=dead}} the Pakistan Peoples Party,{{cite web|url=http://www.pppp.org.pk/pppchange/o_org.html|title=Overseas organizations|work=Pakistan Peoples Party|access-date=17 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819082920/http://www.pppp.org.pk/pppchange/o_org.html|archive-date=19 August 2014|url-status=dead}} the Muttahida Qaumi Movement{{cite web|url=http://www.mqmuk.com/|title=Muttahida Qaumi Movement UK|work=Muttahida Qaumi Movement|access-date=17 August 2014}} and others have political chapters and support in the UK.

Some of the most influential names in Pakistani politics are known to have studied, lived or exiled in the UK.{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/asia/21603501-arrest-exiled-politician-could-mean-more-problems-karachi-east-edgware|title=East of Edgware|newspaper=The Economist|date=7 June 2014|access-date=12 April 2015|quote=London has a long tradition of hosting Pakistani politicians who have left their homeland in a hurry. The usual form is for ousted leaders to set up shop in one of the city’s posher neighbourhoods, rail against the incumbent regime in Islamabad and head home in triumph when the time is right. The formula worked well for Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif (though it failed for Pervez Musharraf, a former dictator, now embroiled in a treason trial after foolishly returning last year).}} London, in particular, has long served as a hub of Pakistani political activities overseas.{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1109493/tahirul-qadri-pml-q-leaders-meet-in-london-today-in-bid-to-form-anti-govt-alliance|title=Tahirul Qadri, PML-Q leaders meet in London today in bid to form anti-govt alliance|work=Dawn|date=30 May 2014|access-date=12 April 2015|first=Zulqernain|last=Tahir|quote=London has become the hub of Pakistan’s political activities as the Chaudhrys of Gujrat and Dr Tahirul Qadri meet there on Friday to kick off efforts to forge a 'grand anti-government alliance'.}}{{cite news|url=http://www.geo.tv/article-165956-Zardari-calls-party-meeting-in-London|title=Zardari calls party meeting in London|work=Geo News|date=17 November 2014|access-date=12 April 2015|first=Murtaza Ali|last=Shah}}{{cite news|url=http://gulfnews.com/news/asia/pakistan/benazir-and-nawaz-to-jointly-chair-opposition-s-key-london-meeting-1.162232|title=Benazir and Nawaz to jointly chair opposition's key London meeting|work=Gulf News|date=22 February 2007|access-date=12 April 2015|first=Shahid|last=Hussain}} The British Azad Kashmiri community has a strong culture of diaspora politics, playing a significant role in advocating the settlement of the Kashmir conflict and raising awareness of human rights abuses in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.{{cite news|url=http://www.dawn.com/news/1139207|title='Kashmir million march' to go on despite Indian efforts: Barrister Sultan|newspaper=Dawn|date=20 October 2014|access-date=16 May 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://tribune.com.pk/story/851199/kashmir-issue-uk-councillor-urges-resolution-of-dispute/|title=Kashmir issue: UK councillor urges resolution of dispute|newspaper=The Express Tribune|date=11 March 2015|access-date=16 May 2015}}{{cite news|url=http://www.theasians.co.uk/story/20150207_kashmir_day_uk|title=Kashmir 'Solidarity' Day Marked in UK|work=The Asians|date=7 February 2015|access-date=16 May 2015}} Much of Pakistani lobbying and intelligence operations in the UK are focused on this key diaspora issue.{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/UK-keeps-eyes-shut-as-ISI-uses-turf-to-hit-India/articleshow/7644202.cms?referral=PM|title=UK keeps eyes shut as ISI uses turf to hit India|work=The Times of India|date=7 March 2011|access-date=2 August 2015|first=Ashis|last=Ray}}

The Labour Party has traditionally been the natural choice for many British Pakistanis. The Labour Party are said to be more dependent on votes from British Pakistanis than the Conservative Party.{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article924845.ece |title=Cameron criticised radicalised Muslims: Wikileaks |author=David Leigh |date= 1 December 2010|work=The Hindu |access-date=20 December 2010}} British Pakistani support for Labour reportedly fell because of party's decision to take part in the Iraq War,{{cite web |url=http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=1205 |title=War costs Labour the Muslim vote |work=The Muslim News |date=30 May 2003 |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927213131/http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/paper/index.php?article=1205 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |url-status=dead }} when a substantial minority of Muslim voters switched from Labour to the Liberal Democrats. A 2005 poll carried out by ICM Research (ICM) showed that 40% of British Pakistanis intended to vote for Labour in 2010, compared to 5% for the Conservative Party and 21% for the Liberal Democrats.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2005/apr/24/uk.election20054 |title=The ethnic minority vote |author=Tom Templeton |date= 24 April 2005|work=The Guardian |access-date=20 December 2010}} However, according to survey research, 60% of Pakistani voters voted Labour in the subsequent general election, held in 2010{{cite web|url=http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/EMBESbriefingFINALx.pdf|title=Ethnic Minority British Election Study – Key Findings|first1=Anthony|last1=Heath|first2=Omar|last2=Khan|publisher=Runnymede Trust|date=February 2012|access-date=1 May 2015|archive-date=1 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601050142/http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/EMBESbriefingFINALx.pdf|url-status=dead}} and this figure rose to more than 90% in the 2017 general election.{{cite web|url=https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/2017%20Election%20Briefing.pdf|title=Ethnic Minorities at the 2017 British General Election|first1=Nicole|last1=Martin|first2=Omar|last2=Khan|publisher=Runnymede Trust|date=February 2019|access-date=25 February 2019|archive-date=21 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121010457/https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/2017%20Election%20Briefing.pdf|url-status=dead}}

High-profile British Pakistani politicians within the Labour Party include Shahid Malik and Lord Nazir Ahmed, who became the first Muslim life peer in 1998.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7795234.stm|title=Profile: Lord Ahmed|work=BBC News|date=25 February 2009|access-date=25 September 2011}} Sadiq Khan became the first Muslim cabinet minister in June 2009, after being invited to accept the post by then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown.{{cite web|url=http://www.wandsworthguardian.co.uk/news/4424355.Sadiq_Khan_named_first_Muslim_cabinet_minister/ |title=Tooting MP Sadiq Khan named first Muslim cabinet minister in Gordon Brown's reshuffle (From Wandsworth Guardian) |work= The Wandsworth Guardian |date=6 June 2009 |access-date=27 April 2010}} Anas Sarwar served as an MP for Glasgow Central between 2010 and 2015, and was elected as leader of the Scottish Labour Party in February 2021.{{Cite web |last=Severin |first=Carrell |date=27 February 2021 |title=Anas Sarwar wins Scottish Labour leadership election |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/feb/27/anas-sarwar-wins-scottish-labour-leadership-election |access-date=12 July 2021 |website=The Guardian}} Shabana Mahmood is the current Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Image:Sajid Javid Secretary of State.jpg, is the former Chancellor of the Exchequer. He was the vice-president of Chase Manhattan Bank before working as a managing director for Deutsche Bank.{{Cite web|url=http://www.politics.co.uk/reference/sajid-javid|title=Sajid Javid|website=politics.co.uk}}|left]]

Some commentators have argued the Conservative Party has become increasingly popular with some British Pakistanis, as they become more affluent.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7354227.stm |title=UK | In search of the Muslim vote |work=BBC News |date=18 April 2008 |access-date=27 April 2010}} However, analysis of a representative sample of ethnic Pakistani voters in the 2010 general election from the Ethnic Minority British Election Study shows that 13% of them voted Conservative, compared to 60% Labour and 25% Liberal Democrat.

The proportion of British Pakistanis voting Conservative fell in the 2015 and 2017 general elections. Michael Wade, chairman of the Conservative Friends of Pakistan, has argued that while polls have shown that only one third of British Pakistani men would never vote Conservative, "the fact is that the Conservative Party has not been successful in reaching out to the British Pakistani community; and so they, in turn, have not looked to the Conservative Party as the one that represents their interests".{{cite news|url=http://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2013/06/with-over-2m-immigrants-settling-in-the-uk-over-these-past-10-years-and-an-estimated-13m-british-pakistanis-already-uk-citi.html|title=Michael Wade: British Pakistanis – the two-way street towards better integration|publisher=Conservative Home|date=30 June 2013|access-date=1 May 2015}}

The Conservative Friends of Pakistan aims to develop and promote the relationship between the Conservative Party, the British Pakistani community and Pakistan.{{cite web|url=http://www.cfop.org.uk/|title=Home page|work=Conservative Friends of Pakistan|access-date=12 August 2013}} David Cameron opened a new gym aimed at British Pakistanis in Bolton after being invited by Amir Khan in 2009.{{cite web|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS9p_dUUizY | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140627081926/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS9p_dUUizY| archive-date=2014-06-27 | url-status=dead|title=David Cameron opens Amir Khan's gym in Bolton |publisher=YouTube |access-date=27 April 2010}} Cameron also appointed Tariq Ahmad, Baron Ahmad of Wimbledon, a Mirpuri-born politician, a life peerage. Multi-millionaire Sir Anwar Pervez, who claims to have been born Conservative,{{cite news |url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article2112546.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612232550/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article2112546.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 June 2011|title=Slim margins mean fat profits for the man who supplies Britain's corner shops|author=Sathnam Sanghera|date=21 July 2007|work=The Times|access-date=2 November 2010}} has donated large sums to the party.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/06/4 |title=Frontrunners in fortune |work=The Guardian |date=6 March 2002 |access-date=27 April 2010 | location=London}}{{cite news| url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:dZ7C_yCJtVcJ:extras.timesonline.co.uk/richlist2009/political.pdf+the+top+political+donors&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjdzzQRKPINSZ3GR9aSNL8u-0Q9P6_PGFPmufW-1naynu-RE0IYWi-k9bmt4wxkt0jRLkdnPhisl3fZpYNnRBs1-lNyaXh2OO3W69j8vZkz7x37ag99z1Cxp7c4x2gmkHi-ojdh&sig=AHIEtbQh9E3ZaqJqsvfo2VkSlaoSO4eWyw |title=The top political donors| pages=1 | work=The Times | location=London | access-date=27 April 2010}} Sir Anwar's donations have entitled him to become a member of the influential Conservative Leader's Group.{{cite web |url=http://www.conservatives.com/Donate/Donor_Clubs.aspx |title=Conservative Party donor clubs |publisher=The Conservative Party |access-date=16 April 2010 |archive-date=8 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108040729/https://www.conservatives.com/Donate/Donor_Clubs.aspx |url-status=dead }}

Shortly after becoming the Conservative Party leader, Cameron spent two days living with a British Pakistani family in Birmingham.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2007/may/13/comment.communities |title= What I learnt from my stay with a Muslim family |author=David Cameron |date=13 May 2007 |work= The Observer |access-date=12 March 2011 | location=London}} He said the experience taught him about the challenges of cohesion and integration.

Sajjad Karim was a member of the European Parliament before Brexit. He represented North West England through the Conservative Party. In 2005, Karim became the founding chairman of the European Parliament Friends of Pakistan Group. He is also a member of the Friends of India and Friends of Bangladesh groups.{{cite web |url=http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_the_European_Parliament/Karim_Sajjad.aspx |title=The Conservative Party - Mr Sajjad Karim MEP |publisher=The Conservative Party |access-date=27 April 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429160014/http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_the_European_Parliament/Karim_Sajjad.aspx |archive-date=29 April 2010 |url-status=dead }} Rehman Chishti became the new Conservative Party MP for Gillingham and Rainham in 2010.{{cite web |url=http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/News/newsresults/General-news/2010/May/may0710-lembit-opik-loses-seat-in-commons/ |title=Bike-supporting Opik is election casualty |author=Steve Farrell |date=7 May 2010 |access-date=2 November 2010}} Sayeeda Warsi was promoted to chairman of the Conservative Party by the prime minister shortly after the 2010 UK general election. Warsi was the shadow minister for community cohesion when the Conservatives were in opposition before the 2010 election. She was the first Muslim and first Asian woman to serve in a British cabinet. Both of Warsi's grandfathers served with the British Army in the Second World War.{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/janice_turner/article6878516.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20091022020930/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/janice_turner/article6878516.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 October 2009 |title=No garlic and silver bullets are needed for Nick Griffin |author=Janice Turner |date=17 October 2009 |work=The Times |access-date=31 October 2010}}

File:First Minister Humza Yousaf (52784069858) (cropped 1).jpg, former First Minister of Scotland]]

In the 2003 Scottish Parliament elections, Scottish Pakistani voters supported the Scottish National Party (SNP) more than the average Scottish voter.{{cite news |last=Kelbie |first=Paul |date=30 October 2003 |title=Pakistanis living in Scotland feel more at home north of the border than the 400,000 English who live there – This Britain, UK |work=The Independent |location=London |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/pakistanis-living-in-scotland-feel-more-at-home-north-of-the-border-than-the-400000-english-who-live-93755.html |access-date=27 April 2010}} The SNP is a centre-left civil nationalist party that campaigns for the independence of Scotland from the United Kingdom. SNP candidate Bashir Ahmad was elected to the Scottish Parliament to represent Glasgow at the 2007 election, becoming the first member of the Scottish Parliament to be elected with a Scottish Asian background.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6622915.stm |title=First Asian MSP goes to Holyrood |date= 4 May 2007|work=BBC News |access-date=20 December 2010}} On 29 March 2023, Humza Yousaf was elected First Minister of Scotland, becoming the first British Pakistani to hold this position, and simultaneously the first Muslim leader of a European country.{{Cite web |date=2023-03-27 |title=Scotland Is the First Western Democracy to Get a Muslim Leader. Here's What to Know About Humza Yousaf |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-humza-yousafs-win-historic-131646144.html |access-date=2025-01-08 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}} He also served as leader of the Scottish National Party between 2023 and 2024.

Salma Yaqoob is the former leader of the left-wing, anti-Zionist Respect Party. The small party has seen success in areas such as Sparkbrook in Birmingham and Newham in London, where there are large Pakistani populations. Qassim Afzal is a senior Liberal Democrat politician of Pakistani origin. In 2009 he accompanied the then Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to meetings with Pakistan's president, Asif Ali Zardari.{{cite web |url=http://www.libdems.org.uk//news_detail.aspx?title=Pakistan_President_Asif_Zardari_meets_Liberal_Democrat_Leader_Nick_Clegg&pPK=7fca3f56-7454-4c75-98d7-d3bc4896c635 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100430123911/http://www.libdems.org.uk//news_detail.aspx?title=Pakistan_President_Asif_Zardari_meets_Liberal_Democrat_Leader_Nick_Clegg&pPK=7fca3f56-7454-4c75-98d7-d3bc4896c635 |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 April 2010 |title=Pakistan President Asif Zardari meets Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg |date=27 August 2009 |publisher=Liberal Democrats |access-date=10 May 2010}} There has never been a Pakistani MP in the Liberal Democrats.

{{See also|Anti-Pakistan sentiment|Paki (slur)|Racism in the United Kingdom|Stereotypes of South Asians}}

The chance of a Pakistani being racially attacked in a year is greater than 4%—the highest rate in the country, along with British Bangladeshis—though this has come down from 8% a year in 1996.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pakistanis-are-eight-times-more-likely-to-be-victim-of-a-racist-attack-than-whites-596594.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609092706/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/pakistanis-are-eight-times-more-likely-to-be-victim-of-a-racist-attack-than-whites-596594.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=9 June 2011 |title=Pakistanis are eight times more likely to be victim of a racist attack than whites – Home News, UK |work=The Independent |date=4 February 2003 |access-date=27 April 2010 | location=London}}

Police recorded figures also showed that in 2018–19, the highest proportion of victims (18%) of racially aggravated hate crimes were of Pakistani ethnicity.{{Cite web |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8537/CBP-8537.pdf#page25 |title=Hate Crime Statistics |date=2021-11-26 |last1=Allen |first1=Grahame |last2=Zayed |first2=Yago |publisher=House of Commons Library}} Between 2005 and 2012, just over half of the victims of Islamophobic incidents in London were Pakistani in ethnic appearance.{{Cite web |url=https://www.report-it.org.uk/files/hate_crime_against_london_highres_print_final.pdf |title=Hate Crimes against London's Muslim Communities |date=2013 |publisher=MOPAC |last1=Kielinger |first1=Vicky |last2=Paterson |first2=Susan}}

The term "Paki" is often used as a racist slur to describe Pakistanis and can also be directed towards other non-Pakistani South Asians. There have been some attempts by the youngest generation of British Pakistanis to reclaim the word and use it in a non-offensive way to refer to themselves, though this remains controversial.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/6740445.stm |title=After the N-word, the P-word |author=Rajni Bhatia |date= 11 June 2007 |work=BBC News |access-date=6 May 2010}}

In 2001, riots occurred in Bradford. Two reasons given for the riots were social deprivation and the actions of extreme right wing groups such as the National Front (NF).{{cite book|last=Thomas|first=Paul|title=Rioting in the UK France|date=1 May 2009|publisher=Willan|isbn=978-1-84392-504-0|page=7|editor=David Waddington |editor2=Fabien Jobard |editor3=Mike King }} The Anti-Nazi League held a counter protest to a proposed march by the NF leading to clashes between police and the local South Asian population, with the majority of those being involved being of Pakistani descent.{{cite book|last=Chant|first=Sylvia H.|title=The International Handbook of Gender and Poverty: Concepts, Research, Policy|year=2011|publisher=Edward Elgar Publishing|isbn=978-1-84980-095-2|page=275}}{{cite book|last=Bagguley|first=Paul|title=Riotous Citizens: Ethnic Conflict in Multicultural Britain|url=https://archive.org/details/riotouscitizens00huss|url-access=limited|year=2008|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0-7546-4627-3|page=[https://archive.org/details/riotouscitizens00huss/page/n17 7]|author2=Yasmin Hussain}}

{{Main|Paki (slur)}}

Starting in the late 1960s,{{cite journal |last1=Ashe |first1=Stephen |last2=Virdee |first2=Satnam |last3=Brown |first3=Laurence |title=Striking back against racist violence in the East End of London, 1968–1970 |journal=Race & Class |date=2016 |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=34–54 |doi=10.1177/0306396816642997 |pmid=28479657 |pmc=5327924 |issn=0306-3968}} and peaking in the 1970s and 1980s, violent gangs opposed to immigration took part in frequent attacks known as "Paki-bashing", which targeted and assaulted Pakistanis and other South Asians.{{cite news|title=In the eye of the storm|url=http://www.redpepper.org.uk/In-the-eye-of-the-storm/|access-date=23 June 2015|work=Red Pepper}} "Paki-bashing" was unleashed after Enoch Powell's inflammatory Rivers of Blood speech in 1968, and peaked during the 1970s–1980s, with the attacks mainly linked to far-right fascist, racist and anti-immigrant movements, including the white power skinheads, the National Front, and the British National Party (BNP).Nahid Afrose Kabir (2012), [https://books.google.com/books?id=GRPsAQAAQBAJ Young British Muslims], Edinburgh University Press{{cite book |first=Robert|last=Lambert|chapter=Anti-Muslim violence in the UK: Extremist nationalist involvement and influence|editor1-last=Taylor|editor1-first=Max |editor2-last=Currie |editor2-first=P. M. |editor3-last=Holbrook |editor3-first=Donald |title=Extreme Right Wing Political Violence and Terrorism |date=2013 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781441140876 |pages=40–53 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f4bFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA40}}

These attacks were usually referred to as either "Paki-bashing" or "skinhead terror", with the attackers usually called "Paki-bashers" or "skinheads". According to Robert Lambert, "influential sections of the national and local media" did "much to exacerbate" anti-immigrant and anti-Pakistani rhetoric. The attacks were also fuelled by systemic failures of state authorities, which included under-reporting of racist attacks, the criminal justice system not taking racist attacks seriously, and racial harassment by police.

As per a 2013 YouGov research, British Pakistanis are seen to not integrate into society as well when compared to immigrants of African or Eastern European background but conversely they're also perceived to be "as hard-working as well as more entrepreneurial and less likely to be either leaning on the state or a drain on the economy than the other groups", and also "as less threatening in general and less corrupt than Eastern Europeans."{{Cite web |last=de Waal |first=Joel Rogers |date=24 June 2013 |title=British attitudes to the Pakistani diaspora |url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2013/06/24/british-attitudes-its-pakistani-diaspora |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819061225/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2013/06/24/british-attitudes-its-pakistani-diaspora |archive-date=19 August 2023 |website=YouGov}}

{{Main|List of British Pakistanis}}

{{Portal|United Kingdom|Pakistan}}

• British Mirpuri
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• List of British Muslims

• Asian Underground
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• {{section link|List of British Pakistanis|Entertainment}}

• Pakistan–United Kingdom relations
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{{Notelist}}

{{reflist|group=lower-greek}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin|40em}}

• Ali N, Ellis P and Khan Z (1996), A Time to Separate British Punjabi and British Kashmiri Identity, in Singh and Talbot (eds.) New Delhi: Manohar Publishers
• Amin, A (2002) Ethnicity and the multicultural city: living with diversity, Environment and Planning A, 34
• Amin, A (2003) Unruly strangers? The 2001 urban riots, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 27(2)
• Anwar, M (1996) British Pakistanis: demographic, social and economic position. University of Warwick. {{ISBN|0-948303-59-X}}
• Brown, J (2006) Global South Asians: introducing the modern diaspora, Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|0-521-84456-8}}
• Dahya, B (1974) The nature of Pakistani ethnicity in industrial cities in Britain, Tavistock Press. {{ISBN|0-415-32982-5}}
• Kalra, V (2000) From textile mills to taxi ranks Ashgate Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-84014-865-7}}
• {{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/1500344/Links-to-Britain-forged-by-war-and-Partition.html|title=Links to Britain forged by war and Partition|first=Marco|last=Giannangeli|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 October 2005|access-date=26 February 2011}}
• {{cite thesis|url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/1134/1/WRAP_THESIS_Imtiaz_1997.pdf|title=A comparative study of multilingual Pakistanis in Amsterdam and Birmingham|first=Sharon Karima|last=Imtiaz|year=1997|degree=PhD|publisher=University of Warwick}}
• Jamal, A (1998). Food consumption among ethnic minorities: the case of British-Pakistanis in Bradford, UK. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. {{ISSN|0007-070X}}
• Jamal, A (1998). Cultural diversity and its impact on businesses, in Navigation Difference: Cultural Diversity and Audience Development, Arts Council England. {{ISBN|0-7287-1077-3}}
• Kundnani, A (2001). "[https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA79665580 From Oldham to Bradford: the violence of the violated]", Race and Class 43(2)
• Sandercock, L (2003) Cosmopolis II: mongrel cities in the twenty-first century. Continuum. {{ISBN|0-8264-7045-9}}
• Shaw, A. (1988) A Pakistani community in Britain, Blackwell. {{ISBN|0-631-15228-8}}
• Werbner, P. (2002) The migration process: Capital, gifts and offerings among British Pakistanis, Berg Publishers. {{ISBN|1-85973-664-5}}
• Yilmaz, Ihsan. (2005) Muslim Laws, Politics and Society in Modern Nation States: Dynamic Legal Pluralisms in England, Turkey, and Pakistan, Ashgate Publishing. {{ISBN|978-0-7546-4389-0}}

{{refend}}

{{Overseas Pakistani}}

{{AsiansinUK}}

{{UK census ethnic groups}}

Category:British people of Pakistani descent

Category:Muslim communities in Europe

Category:Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom