British social attitudes 2005
On 13 December 2005, the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) published British Social Attitudes 2005 which examines public attitudes towards the key issues that have dominated the political arena since New Labour arrived in office in 1997. In particular, it asks how far the government's policies on health, education, pensions, transport, work-life balance, redistribution, housing, and Europe, are in tune with public opinion.
Among the findings are that:
- The government has caught the public mood by focusing on the NHS, but public expectations are higher than the government’s targets.
- There is general support for the government’s policies on further and higher education, particularly among the working class. More than three-quarters of people think that all or some students should pay tuition fees.
- There is overwhelming support for the idea of personal saving, but many people simply feel unable to put money aside for retirement at the moment. Closing the 'savings gap' will require a major change in attitudes and behaviour.
- Most people want to cut the number of cars on Britain’s roads, but approaches which aim to change car use by increasing some of the costs of motoring would be unpopular.
- The EU is now an issue where voters lead, and politicians follow. This makes things much more difficult for any attempt to gain public approval for closer integration into the EU.
A summary can be viewed on the NatCen website (pdf).
