Although such issues are used by Tory politicians and the media to fuel ‘culture wars’ and stoke antipathy towards a supposedly politically correct cultural elite, research shows that the balance of public opinion in Britain has shifted in favor of more comprehensive attitudes in the past. 20 years. These suggest a rapid and significant change in attitudes in Britain in recent decades. “As a country we are as liberal as we have ever been since this survey began in 1983,” said political scientist Sir John Curtice, senior fellow at the National Center for Social Research (NatCen), which is conducting the survey. . Chart The survey’s other key findings show that public support for increased taxation and public spending, including social security benefits, remained strong as Britain prepared to endure a punishing cost of living crisis. Support for redistributing income from the rich to the less well-off was at its highest level in nearly 30 years. Support for tax and spending was split across the political divide, with 61% of Labor voters and 46% of Tory voters agreeing. Overall, 52% said the government should raise taxes and invest more in health, education and social services. Chart The public’s healthy appetite for government intervention, perhaps a legacy of the perceived success of the Covid support measures, may suggest they will support new Prime Minister Liz Truss’ £150bn cost-of-living support package. However, her support for tax cuts and disdain for redistributive fiscal policies may be more jarring. “Our research shows that the public is facing the ‘cost of living crisis’ with as much appetite for increased government spending as they did during the pandemic. Despite a marked increase in public spending during the pandemic, support for increased tax and spending is relatively high, even among Conservative supporters, said Gillian Prior, chief executive of NatCen. The survey also revealed the striking extent to which socially liberal views are far more prevalent in London. A third of Londoners (34%) are socially liberal, compared to just 19% of those in urban areas outside the capital. “London looks very different to the rest of the country,” said Sarah Butt, director of research at NatCen. Chart Culture war disputes have become increasingly visible in recent years, ranging from disputes over Britain’s colonial heritage to whether moves towards racial, sexual and gender equality have “gone too far”, with critics against awakening to specifically target liberal institutions such as the BBC. , universities and national charities. The survey asked a series of questions about issues of Britishness, national pride, the economic and cultural impact of immigration and attitudes to equal opportunities. His findings included: While most people had a strong sense of Britishness, more than half (54%) agreed that being born in Britain was not important to being “really British” – up from 25% in 2013. Similarly, 34% agreed that Britain is “better country than most”, up from 54% in 2013. The percentage of people who said immigration was “bad for the economy” fell from 42% in 2011 to 20% in 2021. Those who said it was good rose from 21% to 50%. There have been similar shifts in opinion about whether immigrants have enriched or undermined Britain’s cultural life. There was growing public support for the proposition that equal rights had “not gone far enough” for blacks and Asians (45%, up from 25% in 2000). By contrast, the proportion who felt the quality of the match had gone too far fell from 35% in 2000 to 19% in 2021. About a third felt things were “about right”. “For the most part our indicators suggest that while it may once have represented a widely held view, now the ‘anti-awakening’ position on ‘culture war’ issues often appears to be more of a minority,” the survey found. The relatively rapid change in views suggests that it was not just generational, but that more and more older people were becoming more socially liberal. Chart However, Leave and Remain supporters were divided in their views on culture war issues, the survey found. For example, 65% of Brexit supporters said it was important to be born in Britain to be “fully British”, compared to 34% of the rest. While pushing a culture war agenda may successfully excite core Tory voters – and potentially rekindle electoral divisions between Remainers and Leavers after Brexit – audiences appear to be dwindling and there is no guarantee that the anti-awakening phenomenon will be strong enough to win elections, the survey concludes. Curtice said: “Inevitably some people are uncomfortable with such a change in society and will understandably look to politicians to express their concern. But we cannot assume that politicians who express this concern will find that their stance will bring them electoral success.”
Other findings
Satisfaction with health services down – but faith in NHS principles strong Long waiting times for hospital and GP appointments and a lack of government funding led to a dramatic drop in public satisfaction with the NHS in 2021. Fall 17 points year-on-year in a year saw public satisfaction fall to 36% , its lowest level since 1997. However, 76% supported keeping the NHS free at the point of delivery. The fragmentation of services and poor staff pay has led to record public dissatisfaction with adult social care services (50%) Support for change to the UK electoral system? There was a majority of public opinion in favor of introducing a system of proportional representation for MPs voting in the House of Commons for the first time since the survey began in 1983. Just over half (51%) were in favor of the reform, up from 27 % in 2011). While the majority of Labor voters supported PR (61%) only 29% of Conservatives favored electoral reform. Growing environmental concern Concerns about climate change are on the rise, with 40% saying they are “very concerned”, almost double the figure in 2010. More than half (57%) say they are willing to pay to protect the environment either through higher prices, taxes or lower living standards. While 60% blame human activity for climate change, just 6% denied that there has been any decline in the environment. The 2021 British Social Attitudes survey consisted of 6,250 interviews with a representative, random sample of adults in Britain. It was held just over a year ago between September 16 and October 31, 2021.
