Financial problems overtake immigration and crime as Britain's greatest concerns

As the year draws to a close, latest research from Mintel shows that 2008 has seen a seismic shift in the key issues keeping Brits awake at night. In the short time between February this year and today, financial issues have replaced immigration and crime as the nation’s greatest worries. Indeed, 54% of us are now concerned about the state of the economy and 44% are worried about our own personal financial situation. Crime (41%), immigration (37%) and health (30%) make up the remaining five biggest worries. But just a few months ago in February, our greatest concerns looked very different, with the broader societal problems of immigration (48%) and crime (44%) sitting right at the top.