Public Health

The economy remains the most important issue facing Britain however unemployment loses its second place spot to race/immigration.

Concern about immigration and poverty increases though our chief concern about economic issues remains unmoved

Issues Index long-term trends

A new study for Cancer Research UK, published in the British Journal of Cancer shows what factors may hold people back from seeking early medical advice for symptoms of cancer.

The top 10 issues across this month exactly match the top 10 issues across 2012, indicating that the public's priorities are unshifting as we go into the new year.

Ipsos's aggregated data from all 12 months of our 2012 Issues Index surveys, with the most important issues broken down by gender, age, ethnicity, social class and by voting intention. This is based on a total of more than 10,000 interviews, aggregated from the 12 individual polls.

Our final Issues Index of 2012 shows the list of issues of most concern to the British public in the run up to Christmas, with a comparison to the local issues that fill up MP's postbags.

Ipsos carried out a telephone survey for the Nuffield Trust on public spending and the NHS.

As the Bank of England welcomes the appointment of a new governor, concern about the economy shows no sign of abating, with the well off especially concerned.