Mar 2011 14

Guardian poll reveals that the UKUncut and union “no cuts” brigade are a small minority10

The Guardian have released a major poll on political attitudes across Europe.  They have focused on findings that most Europeans are pessimistic about the future, have little trust in their governments and see themselves as socially liberal.  What is striking looking at the full data though, is that it shows broad support for spending cuts.  Most people in Britain for example, think that the government has been spending too much and that it needs to cut spending to address the deficit.

UKUncut and the unions argue that there is no need to cut spending.  I tangled with Ken Livingstone at one point when he suggested that the seriousness of the deficit was a myth, you can see the debate on YouTube here.  To the extent the country does need to get the deficit under control they argue the answer isn’t spending cuts but increasing revenue.  While the idea of solving all our problems by launching a moral crusade against tax dodgers might sound appealing, this poll shows most people take a more sensible view of the issue and understand cuts are necessary.  They want a growth strategy too, and expect that to be the first priority, but that doesn’t mean they don’t support cuts as a complement too or part of that.  It’s important that policymakers and the media understand there is a quiet but massive majority out there who know cuts are right and necessary, even if they are at times tough.

Here are four key results:

Which of the following best describes your attitude towards public spending cuts?

Please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. The government needs to focus on reducing the national debt by cutting public spending.

Please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. The government has been spending too much money.

Please indicate to what extent you agree or disagree with each of the following statements. I am worried about the amount of money the government is borrowing.

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  • http://twitter.com/NormaniusB Normainius Brainer

    I would expect many people don’t care about the deficit or really understand it, but see we need to be more efficient for better prosperity.

    This is why ukuncut are so unpopular as even if it their idea did work and make a temporary dent in the deficit, it wouldn’t solve the underlying bloatedness which thwarts any prosperity or just is a general daily annoyance.

  • http://twitter.com/NormaniusB Normainius Brainer

    I would expect many people don’t care about the deficit or really understand it, but see we need to be more efficient for better prosperity.

    This is why ukuncut are so unpopular as even if it their idea did work and make a temporary dent in the deficit, it wouldn’t solve the underlying bloatedness which thwarts any prosperity or just is a general daily annoyance.

  • http://twitter.com/polleetickle Polleetickle

    If you can, imagine this;

    Public Sector bloatedness hangs round the neck of the UK like a P6000 in Africa.

    Unions carrying cans of accelerant.

  • Phil Taylor

    Matthew,

    The Guardian are totally misrepresenting their own poll. Their third orange chart relates to a question they never asked. They have taken the data from the 4th answer in your top chart and called it a new question “The government needs to cut to reduce the national debt”. Your top chart shows that 85% think there should be cuts but 51% qualify that by saying that the economy should have recovered. Only 8% say no cuts. The Guardian chart invites you to think that 66% are against cuts.

  • Phil Taylor

    Matthew,

    The Guardian are totally misrepresenting their own poll. Their third orange chart relates to a question they never asked. They have taken the data from the 4th answer in your top chart and called it a new question “The government needs to cut to reduce the national debt”. Your top chart shows that 85% think there should be cuts but 51% qualify that by saying that the economy should have recovered. Only 8% say no cuts. The Guardian chart invites you to think that 66% are against cuts.

  • Phil Taylor

    Matthew,

    The Guardian are totally misrepresenting their own poll. Their third orange chart relates to a question they never asked. They have taken the data from the 4th answer in your top chart and called it a new question “The government needs to cut to reduce the national debt”. Your top chart shows that 85% think there should be cuts but 51% qualify that by saying that the economy should have recovered. Only 8% say no cuts. The Guardian chart invites you to think that 66% are against cuts.

  • woodbine

    Are your graphs UK only data or pan-European?

  • Herbert

    So the Big Lie continues to have legs.

  • http://twitter.com/BobFarrell BobFarrell

    These graphs are cherry-picked. Can I recommend that readers look at the full data and then make their minds up. Posting 4 graphs out of 23 is disingenuous.

  • http://twitter.com/TheTortorian Conand

    This cheers me up no end. Only about 12% of people are psychos who agree with Labour’s line on past spending.