A new poll shows that the public remains sceptical of George Osborne's economic strategy. Alistair Darling's slower approach to deficit reduction is supported by 55% to 45%.
Today’s Times (£) carries a new Populus poll detailing an “unhappy anniversary” for Nick Clegg and the Lib Dems. But the poll also shows that the public remains sceptical of George Osborne’s economic strategy.
When read out two different views about the economy – one corresponding to George Osborne’s plans to eliminate the deficit in this Parliament and the other in line with Alistair Darling’s proposal to halve the deficit in four years – excluding don’t knows, the public favour Darling’s approach to Osborne’s by 55 per cent to 45 per cent.
The Times highlights (£) that the remaining Lib Dem supporters are changing their view on this:
“One result that is likely to cause alarm in Downing Street is the first sign that Lib Dem supporters are turning their back on the coalition’s deficit reduction strategy. In February, 61 per cent backed the coalition’s speed and pace of deficit reduction, putting them broadly in line with support for the strategy among Conservatives.
“Now, the number of Lib Dem supporters endorsing plans to eliminate the current structural deficit within a Parliament has dropped to 46 per cent. Tory support remains largely unchanged.”
A recent YouGov tracker found net support for the coalition’s management of the economy at -12. This compares starly with the picture just 11 months ago, after Osborne’s emergency budget, when +25 thought the strategy was good for the economy.
Sadly, it seems that neither economic stagnation nor public opinion will shift the coalition’s determination to stick to Plan A.
37 Responses to “New poll shows public prefer Darling’s deficit reduction plan to Osborne’s”
Rob Lane
RT @wdjstraw: New Populus poll shows 55% support Labour's approach to halving the deficit in 4 years: http://bit.ly/jqoCPh
oldpolitics
Robert – by what unusual definition of “Blairite” do you consider Ed Balls to be one?
Robert
You are totally right I have Blair on the brain, I did mean of course a Brownite, I was just reading the new medical test for DLA a few minutes ago, and Blair came to mind, Ed was of course a great mate of Brown. even worse then because Brown stated DLA disability living allowance should be stopped, and i think he has his way, after seeing what the Tories have planed.
Ed's Talking Balls
Slightly confusing, when you look at the breakdown and what the media has been telling us.
We have been told by the Fawcett Society, for example, that fiscal consolidation will have a disproportionately harsh effect on women. Yet more women than men agreed with the first statement, i.e. the George Osborne plan.
Similarly, I have read that the cuts will hurt the elderly more than the young. Yet in the 65+ category, more people supported the Osborne-type wording than the Darling strategy.
On the headline poll result, I’m not entirely surprised. People often like the idea of putting off the unpleasant, while wall-to-wall media coverage tells us incessantly how awful the cuts are going to be. I would say, however, that the gap is narrow (nothing like, for example, the comprehensive caning that AV took in the referendum) and that public opinion could go either way in the future, depending on how Osborne’s gamble works out.
Finally, given that the wording of the poll I’m even less surprised that Darling’s plan comes across as, marginally, more popular. The statement used to sum up Darling’s plan doesn’t use the words ‘spending cuts’, which instinctively make people recoil.
Balls: "Cutting too far and too fast creates a vicious circle" | Left Foot Forward
[…] too fast”, and called on him to “think again”. Earlier today, Left Foot Forward reported the latest Times/Populus poll findings, which revealed more support for the Darling plan than the […]