Britain In The 21St Century

MORI interviewed a nationally representative quota sample of 1,025 adults throughout Great Britain by MORI/Field & Tab across 185 constituency-based sampling points as part of MORI's Omnibus survey. Interviews were carried out using CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing) face-to-face in respondents' homes between 20-24 July 2000. Data have been weighted to reflect the national population profile.

19 September 2000

I am now going to ask you a few questions about what you think Britain might be like over the next fifty years.

Q1 Which of these do you think is most likely to happen by the year 2050?

	%
Britain will remain an independent nation, and will have considerable influence in world affairs	23
Britain will remain an independent nation, but will have little influence in world affairs	29
Britain will lose its independence, but the British people will have considerable influence in world affairs	16
Britain will lose its independence, and the British people will have little influence in world affairs	24
None of these	2
Don't know	7

Q2 Do you think that Britain's relationship with the United States of America will strengthen or weaken over the next fifty years?

	%
Strengthen	48
Weaken	27
Stay the same	18
Don't know	8

Q3 Please tell me which, if any, of these you think will probably happen over the next 50 years?

Q4 And which, if any, do you think will probably not happen over the next 50 years?

	Q3	Q4
	Will	Will not	Net will
	%	%	%
Britain will lose its cutting edge in technical and scientific innovation	23	12	+11
Britain will cease to play a leading role in artistic and cultural achievement	13	9	+4
Extraterrestrial life will be discovered	14	40	-26
Non-polluting energy technology will replace fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas	41	9	+32
Britain will continue to have a monarchy	45	13	+32
Ordinary people will be able to take holidays in space	16	35	-19
England will take part in soccer tournaments without fan misbehaviour	16	32	-16
Flying cars will become a viable mode of transport	8	51	-43
People will be able to communicate with each other at any time, free of charge	29	16	+13
Extinct species will be re-created	18	34	-16
Opportunities for people to live rewarding lives will be greater than ever before	25	8	+17
People will expect to live to the age of 200	4	54	-50
There will be another World War	18	32	-14
The standard of living in Britain will be higher than it has ever been before	30	11	+19
Most people living in Britain will think of themselves as European first and British second	21	16	+5
There will no longer be a set age for retirement	42	14	+28
The welfare state and publicly funded services will gradually disappear	46	8	+38
None of these	1	1
Don't know	5	7

Q5-8 Please tell me what you think is most likely to happen in 50 years time... ....to state schools and private schools in Britain? ....to the National Health Service and private hospitals in Britain? ....to the state Old Age Pension and private pension schemes? ....to provision of welfare services such as insurance against unemployment and disability?

	Q5	Q6	Q7	Q8
	Schools	NHS	Pension	Welfare
	%	%	%	%
The state service will be so good that hardly anyone will pay extra to go private	7	4	3	4
Most people will use the state sector, but some people will pay extra to go private	44	31	19	23
Most people will pay for private services, but some will still rely on the state sector	22	33	32	32
The state service will be so poor that nearly everyone will pay for private services	15	23	34	27
Other/none of these	3	2	2	2
Don't know	10	7	9	11

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