Concern about Brexit continues to climb and worry about crime rises to a seven-year high

• Sixty-two per cent of Britons see the EU and Brexit as one of the biggest issues for Britain, a three-percentage point increase from last month
• Concern about crime has risen by ten points since last month, to its highest level since the 2011 riots
• Crime is the joint-second biggest concern for Londoners, on 35%

This month’s Issues Index records a further increase in the proportion of the country who name Brexit as one of the biggest issues for Britain. Sixty-two per cent cite the country’s relationship with Europe as a concern – a new highest level of concern on this topic since September 1974. This is also the highest level of worry about any issue since February 2012 (when 64% were worried about the economy).

Similarly, the proportion who see Brexit as Britain’s single biggest issue is also at an all-time high, at 52% (up from 48% last month). This is the highest recorded score for any issue on this metric since the 2010 General Election when 53% named the economy as Britain’s biggest issue.

Fieldwork occurred between 2-18 November, covering the period that included the Cabinet agreement on the draft Brexit deal, several Ministerial resignations and talk of a leadership challenge to Prime Minister Theresa May.

Outside concern about Brexit there has been a significant increase in concern about crime – 26 per cent this month name it as a big issue, a rise of ten percentage points on last month. Worry about pollution and the environment is in the top ten concerns for the second month in a row; on 13% this is the highest score for this topic since flooding during June 2007.

Concern about crime is strongly centred on London; 35% of Londoners mention it as a big issue, level with the NHS (36%) and behind only Brexit (69%). Crime is also a bigger issue for those in social grades DE (30%) than it is for those in other social grades. Labour supporters are less likely to name it as an issue: 19% mention it as one of the biggest issues for Britain, compared with 26% of all Britons and 30% of Conservative party supporters.

Technical note 

Ipsos's Issues Index is conducted monthly and provides an overview of the key issues concerning the country. Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 998 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. The answers are spontaneous responses, and participants are not prompted with any answers. 
Ipsos's Capibus vehicle was used for this survey. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in-home between 2 and 18 November 2018 at 175 sampling points across Great Britain. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.

• See more of Ipsos's long-term political and social trends.