Noticeable are the high satisfaction rates with education and the NHS following the years of the Labour government:

• 64 per cent are satisfied with the way the NHS is run (the highest level since this survey began) compared with only 34 per cent in 1997
• 73 per cent are satisfied with the teaching of basic skills in schools, compared with 56 per cent in 1996

This gives the lie to one of the frequent myths peddled by the Tories, namely that Labour spent lots of money but nothing got better.

The ‘benefits’ question isn’t about people’s satisfaction with the level of benefits, but about whether they support MORE money being spent. Since 1997, as the coalition never ceases to tell us, the benefits bill has risen considerably. For the coalition this is a ‘bad thing’ but what it represents are some policies which have significantly improved the lives and incomes of many people. All commentators agree that pensioner poverty has dropped substantially. The focus on the poorest pensioners through means-testing did leave us with some issues to refine, both in relation to ‘non-claimers’ and the ‘just above eligibility so get no help’ group. But none of that detracts from the fact that pensioners are much better off and they and their families already know this. Benefits like the disability living allowance (now under attack from the coalition) have improved the quality of life of many disabled people. People in work on low earnings have gained a lot through tax credit.

So the UK in 2009 had a very different landscape from that of 1997. So this ‘finding’ could be interpreted in a very different way from that shown through the media. The ‘need’ is perceived as less – because indeed it was in 2009. That may not the case for very much longer!

And there are other aspects of this survey which show that attitudes are far more mixed than the Guardian headline suggested. 51 per cent thought the government should provide a ‘decent standard of living for the unemployed’ and 54 per cent wanted to see the minimum wage increased.

And people are very concerned about inequality – 78 per cent think the gap between high and low incomes is too great (73 per cent in 2004), and 57 per cent think it is the responsibility of government to reduce this difference. However, only 36 per cent say that there should be distribution of wealth from the better off to the less well off. There does seem to be a disconnect between wanting the problem tackled and willing the means to do it.

Nevertheless, there is fertile ground in all of this for us to rebuild our support among voters. And wait too for how attitudes change once coalition policies really start to bite.

Photo: Victoria Peckham