Economist Poll - Do the public know what they want?
An Ipsos survey for The Economist confirms that it is not always easy to give the public what they (think they) want. A large majority of Britons favour greater local control over public services, but this support drops from 85% to 63% when it is made clear that devolving power will lead to local variations. Public involvement in public services is also seen as a good idea in principle - 49% strongly agree that `people' should get more involved in improving services and local areas. However, this falls to 28% strongly agreeing that `I' should get more involved. There is no clear consensus on whether or not to cut public spending (54% for cuts and 39% against), and opinion is even more finely balanced when the potential consequences of cuts for individuals are spelt out in more detail (47% for cuts and 46% against). Similarly, strong backing for British troops in Afghanistan can be affected by the wider implications for other public services. Strong agreement that `our troops in Afghanistan deserve the best equipment' falls from 83% to 48% if this support would result in spending cuts for other public services people use. The poll also shows that the public are divided on whether the government should tax `bad' behaviour like drinking and flying. For more details, please see the full write-up on The Economist website
Technical details Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,253 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 18 - 20 April 2010. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population. Where percentages do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, the exclusion of "don't know" categories, or multiple answers. An asterisk (*) denotes any value of less than half a per cent. Data are based on all adults unless otherwise stated.
