Grenada, Lebanon and Nuclear Weapons
American troops invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada (an independent member of the Commonwealth which had retained the British Monarch as Head of State) on 25 October 1983. Earlier the same week, more than 200 American and French troops, part of a multi-national peacekeeping force, had been killed in Lebanon. The Sunday Times commissioned MORI to conduct a poll on the public's attitude to both conflicts and to nuclear weapons in Britain.
MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,032 adults aged 18+ at 52 sampling points across Great Britain on 28 October 1983. Interviews were conducted face-to-face, in street. Data were weighted to match the profile of the population.
Q. Has your confidence in the ability of America to deal with world problems gone up lately, gone down or remained about the same?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Gone up | 7 |
| Gone down | 39 |
| Remained about the same | 50 |
| Don't know | 4 |
Q. As you may know, American troops recently invaded the Caribbean island of Grenada. Do you think the Americans should or should not have invaded Grenada?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Should | 32 |
| Should not | 52 |
| Don't know | 16 |
Q. Do you think the British government should or should not have opposed the American invasion before it took place?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Should | 55 |
| Should not | 29 |
| Don't know | 16 |
Q. Now that the invasion has taken place, do you think the British government should express support for or opposition to the presence of American troops on Grenada?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Support | 47 |
| Opposition | 38 |
| Neither | 8 |
| No opinion | 7 |
Q. On balance, do you think the British government has handled the crisis well or badly?
| All | Conservatives | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Well | 22 | 35 |
| Badly | 49 | 34 |
| Neither | 18 | 21 |
| No opinion | 11 | 10 |
Q. Has your opinion of Mrs Thatcher gone up, gone down or stayed about the same as a result of the way the government handled the affair?
| All | Conservatives | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Gone up | 5 | 9 |
| Gone down | 20 | 10 |
| Stayed the same | 64 | 80 |
| No opinion | 3 | 1 |
Q. Do you think Sir Geoffrey Howe, the British Foreign Secretary, should resign over the affair, or not?
| All | Conservatives | |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| Should resign | 22 | 10 |
| Should not resign | 65 | 82 |
| Don't know | 13 | 8 |
I would now like to ask you some questions about another topic.
Q. I am going to read out some suggestions that people have made regarding the defence policies of this country. Please tell me whether, on balance, you think Britain should or should not do each one.
Get rid of all nuclear weapons in Britain, even if other countries keep theirs
| % | |
|---|---|
| Should | 25 |
| Should not | 73 |
| Don't know | 2 |
Trends on this question
Allow cruise missiles to be based in Britain
| % | |
|---|---|
| Should | 43 |
| Should not | 51 |
| Don't know | 6 |
Trends on this question
Q. As you may know, American cruise missiles will still be based in Britain. If the American government wanted to fire the missilers and the British government objected, do you think America would fire them anyway, or not?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Would | 73 |
| Would not | 20 |
| No opinion | 7 |
I'd now like to ask you about the situation in the Lebanon.
Q. As you may know, there is a multinational military force, drawn from Britain, France, Italy and America stationed in Beirut, in the Lebanon. Are you in favour of or opposed to this force being there?
| % | |
|---|---|
| In favour | 53 |
| Opposed | 32 |
| No opinion | 15 |
Q. (To those in favour) Do you think British troops should continue to be part of this force, or should they be withdrawn?
| % | |
|---|---|
| Continue | 90 |
| Withdrawn | 8 |
| No opinion | 2 |
