There was worrying news for both Labour and the Conservatives in the latest Sun/YouGov opinion poll this morning on public attitudes towards spending cuts.
Beyond the headlines of a four-point lead over Labour and apparent support for the Child Benefit changes, there was worrying news for the Conservative party from the latest Sun/YouGov poll this morning. Despite protestations from ministers that the Budget was ‘tough but fair’, the poll reveals that more people believe the government’s public spending cuts are being done unfairly (46 per cent) than fairly (33 per cent).
More than half of those polled (56 per cent) say the cuts are having an impact on their lives, with only a quarter saying they are having no impact, while 39 per cent say they will be bad for the economy, with 43 per cent saying they will be good for the economy. However, more than twice as many people blame Labour for the current spending cuts (44 per cent) than the coalition (20 per cent).
Sixty nine per cent of those polled say they are worried people like them “will suffer directly from cuts in spending on public services such as health, education and welfare”, 71 per cent are worried they “will not have enough money to live comfortably”, 63 per cent are worried they will lose their job or have difficulty finding work and 42 per cent are worried they will lose their home.
On Afghanistan, only eight per cent of those polled think British troops are winning the war with the Taleban, while 26 per cent think they are not winning yet, but victory is possible eventually and more than half (54 per cent) think they are not winning, and victory is not possible.
Finally, on the alternative vote (AV) referendum next May, 40 per cent favour keeping first-past-the-post (FPTP) with 35 per cent favouring AV and 18 per cent undecided. Among Conservative and Labour voters, there are majorities in favour of FPTP, by 55%:28% and 46:35% respectively, with Liberal Democrat voters overwhelmingly backing a switch to AV, by 77 per cent to 11 per cent.
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8 Responses to “Bad poll news for Labour and Tories on spending cuts”
Fred
If you blame the banks the government allowed this to happen, I think a lot of people blame labour, same as the cuts it was labour thats started the cuts hitting the disabled and the poorest.
Right now I cannot see a reason to vote Tory or Labour. as for the liberals I not waste the ink in the pen putting an X next to them
Martin Clark
Fred – should we blame Labour for allowing what happened to the banks in America, Iceland, etc?
Mr. Sensible
Martin fully agree.
And I think it is very telling that, going in to the Spending Review the public do not believe the cuts are fair.