The Irish referendum vote ratifying the Nice treaty opens the way for enlargement of the EU to proceed, possibly leading to radical changes in its nature; yet, according to a Eurobarometer survey conducted in September and just released, half the British public have never even heard about EU enlargement.
A MORI poll, conducted for ITV News on 24-25 September, found one of the most remarkable switches of public opinion that MORI has ever measured. When asked whether Britain should stand 'shoulder to shoulder' with America without UN sanctions, seven people in ten said 'no', but with UN behind the war in Iraq, seven in ten said 'yes', nearly a 50% 'swing' of the British adult population. (With that kind of swing, the Tories would have the biggest majority in the past century at the next election!) Even with the potential for 'many British casualties', a plurality of the British public support Britain joining any American-led military action against Iraq by a margin of 49% to 40%.
More of the public are worrying about the possibility of nuclear war than at any time since the fall of the Berlin Wall, according to the latest MORI Political Monitor. Almost one in ten, 9%, of the public interviewed - in the survey conducted the weekend before last, just at the start of the Conference season - names nuclear war, nuclear weapons or disarmament as one of the most important issues facing the country; the last time the figure reached even 5% was in April 1990. Taken with the rise in concern about "defence/foreign affairs", named by 23% of the public as "single most important issue" (top of the list) and by 34% as one of the most important issues (second place, behind the NHS), it is plain that the continuing Iraq crisis is high on the public agenda.
This weekend's march - organised by the Countryside Alliance - is expected to bring hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets of London - many campaigning (one way or another) for more money for the UK's rural areas.
The last week has been a time for reflection - to look back at the climactic events of 12 months ago, and what has happened since. The focus of course has been on America, on the families affected, on New York, and on George W Bush and his administration. From their vantage point this side of the Atlantic, what are the perceptions of the British public, and how have they reacted to the events of the past year?
