Voice of Britain Poll, October 1977

MORI interviewed a representative interlocking quota sample of 1,070 adults aged 18+. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in 53 constituency sampling points across Great Britain on 25-26 October 1977. The poll was conducted for the Daily Express.

Q Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way the government is running the country? Q Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Callaghan is doing his job as Prime Minister? Q Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mrs Thatcher is doing her job as Leader of the Opposition? Q Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with the way Mr Steel is doing his job as Leader of the Liberal Party?

	Government	Callaghan	Thatcher	Steel
	%	%	%	%
Satisfied	35	53	43	31
Dissatisfied	54	37	40	40
Don't know	10	10	16	30

Q How would you vote if there were a General Election tomorrow? (If undecided or refused at previous question) Q Which party are you most inclined to support? Base: All expressing a voting intention

	%
Conservative	45
Labour	44
Liberal	7
Other	4

Q What would you say is the most important issue facing Britain today? Q And what other issues do you think are particularly important in Britain today?

	Single most important	Most plus other important
	%	%
Prices/cost of living/inflation	35	64
Unemployment	25	50
Trade Unions/industrial disputes/strikes	10	30
Violence/bombings/terrorism	4	18
Immigration/race relations	5	16
Schools/education	2	12
National Health Service	1	10
Housing/rates/rents	2	9
Pensions	1	7
Northern Ireland	1	7
Nationalisation/public ownership	*	5
Devolution	*	2
Public transport	0	*
Other	8	22
Don't know	4	3

Q I am going to read out a list of issues facing people in Britain today. From this card, would you please tell me which political party you think has the best policies on each one.

		Conservative	Labour	Liberal	National Front	Nationalist	Don't know
Education	%	50	26	2	*	*	21
Law and Order	%	40	24	2	1	*	33
The Common Market	%	35	27	3	1	1	33
Immigration	%	34	20	4	5	1	38
Unemployment	%	31	34	3	*	1	31
Strikes/industrial relations	%	30	39	3	1	*	27
Inflation/prices	%	30	42	3	*	*	25
Welfare/social security	%	31	41	3	*	*	24

Q I am going to read out a list of statements which some people have made about a variety of things concerning people in Britain today. Please would you tell me, in each case, whether on balance you agree or disagree with each one?

		Agree	Disagree	Don't know
More should be done to prevent racial tension in this country	%	81	13	6
There should be harsher penalties to combat violence and vandalism	%	97	2	1
It is important to our children's future that we stay in the Common Market	%	46	35	19
The cost of living has been brought under control	%	24	70	6
The trade union "closed shop" is bad for industrial relations	%	62	20	18
Unemployment is the single most important problem facing Britain today	%	66	31	3
Secondary schools should all be comprehensive	%	29	57	13
Fee-paying schools should be abolished	%	24	67	9
There aren't enough jobs for all the people who want them today	%	77	19	4
There is a serious shortage of policemen in the area where I live	%	55	26	19
Policemen should have the right to strike	%	56	36	9
The police should use whatever force is necessary to maintain law and order	%	74	22	4
The House of Lords should be abolished	%	27	54	19

Q If for any reason the government has to increase taxes, would you prefer increased tax on your income or an increase in the level of VAT on the things you buy?

	%
Increase on income tax	64
Increase VAT	21
Other answer	6
Don't know	9

Q In some jobs, people have to join a union as a condition of their employment. Do you think this is a good thing or a bad thing?

	%
Good thing	27
Bad thing	63
Don't know	10

Q (To all saying "bad thing" at previous question) Do you think it would be a good idea or a bad idea to pass a law saying that people should not have to join a union as a condition of their employment?

	%
Good idea	55
Bad idea	5
Don't know	3
Not asked question (Said "good thing" or "don't know" at Q12)	37

Q Some people have said that the next round of pay increases should be limited to 10%. Do you think this ...? (a) ...would be good or bad for you personally? (b) ...would be good or bad for the country as a whole?

	You personally	Country as a whole
	%	%
Good	35	75
Bad	29	13
No difference	31	4
Don't know	5	8

 

Q Now for each of the groups I am going to read out I would like you to tell me whether you feel they deserve a pay rise of more than 10% or not.

		More	Not more	Don't know
Teachers	%	33	58	9
Doctors	%	55	39	6
Police	%	85	13	2
Miners	%	24	72	4
Bank staff	%	19	77	14
Journalists	%	6	78	16
Car workers	%	5	90	5
Members of Parliament	%	7	88	5
Managers in industry	%	19	74	7
Farmworkers	%	71	24	5
People in your (head of household's) job	%	42	43	15

Q Now I would like to ask you about Britain's membership of the Common Market. Do you think Britain's membership of the Common Market over the past few years has or has not...?

		Has	Has not	No difference	No opinion
...been the main cause of the rise in food prices?	%	76	17	2	4
...reduced Britain's control over her own destiny?	%	63	19	7	11
...given British industry greater opportunities?	%	45	36	9	10
...increased the political stability of Europe?	%	44	27	11	18
...strengthened Britain's ties with the Commonwealth?	%	25	55	8	11

Q If there was a referendum now on whether Britain should stay in or get out of the Common Market, how would you vote?

	%
Stay in	47
Get out	42
Don't know	11

Q Do you think the death penalty is ever justified or not?

	%
Yes, sometimes justified	81
No, never justified	17
Don't know	2

Q (To those who do not say the death penalty is "never justified" at previous question) I am going to read out a list of various crimes, and I would like you to tell me whether or not you feel the death penalty would be a suitable punishment for those who commit such crimes.

		Suitable	Not suitable/ never justified	Don't know
Kidnapping for ransom	%	36	57	8
Violent robbery	%	40	53	7
Violent rape	%	50	43	7
Terrorism	%	68	27	4
Murder	%	73	22	5
Murder of a policeman	%	78	19	3
Hijacking a plane	%	54	38	8

Q Now I'd like to discuss unemployment. Here is a list of some of the unpleasant things often associated with being unemployed: which two or three would you say are the most serious these days? Q And which do you think are not as serious as they used to be?

	Most serious	Not as serious as they used to be
	%	%
Difficulty in making ends meet on unemployment benefit	43	19
The fact that the longer you are unemployed the more difficult it is to get a job	40	6
Running into debt	40	9
Losing the will to work	35	6
Boredom	27	11
Feeling a burden on the family	21	9
Hostility from people who think the unemployed are lazy	18	11
Signing on at employment exchange	6	45
Embarrassment of meeting friends and neighbours	6	40
None of these	1	6
Don't know	2	7

 

Q Which of the groups on this card do you think is most to blame for unemployment?

	%
Government/Labour Party	15
Trade  unions/Trade union leaders	27
Workforce	8
World situation	34
All of us	12
Management	6
Private investors	6
Don't know	4

  Q How likely do you think it is that you or someone in your family will be unemployed at any time during the next year or two?

	%
Very likely	10
Quite likely	13
Not very likely	26
Not at all likely	42
Don't know	9