East Anglia - unexpectedly progressive

You wont hear me say that very often. For the first two years the tag line to this blog was "They created a desert and called it East Anglia", which was, well, a little controversial in some circles. My discontent is an ongoing project I'm still developing. However, I noticed something in the news today which really surprised me.

It seems that of all the English regions 61% of us East Anglians find evolution to be the best explanation of how human beings came about. 44% of us think that evolution "removes the need for God" - which is the highest proportion in the country (according to the Guardian anyways).

Now, I'm not wild about the categories on offer (evolution removes the need for God, or is part of God's plan) I certainly would not fall neatly into either category as God doesn't come into it for me but as general statements it's clear what they describe - and here in the East we have the highest level of dirty Godlessness, at least by this measure.

Well done to the tractor drivers!

Another surprise is that London has the highest number of anti-evolutionists in England at 32% of people believing in some sort of intelligent design / creationism. That certainly turns on its head the myth that urban dwellers are more progressive than the rural bumpkins. I can't think of a single, significant reason for this - a puzzle.

Update: Cath Elliott has written about this at CiF.