British Attitudes Survey Articles

The publication of the 2009 British Attitudes Survey appears to have given great joy to the Daily Mail (so that it can tell the Labour party it is out of touch with the public) and even in the Guardian the headline was ‘Britain ‘more Thatcherite than in 1980s”. This appears to be based on the answers to two questions: firstly, the fact that only 27 per cent thought that the government should spend more on benefits for the poor compared to 58 per cent in 1991, and, secondly, that only 36 per cent thought government should redistribute income compared to 51 per cent in 1989.

However, looking at some of the other results suggests there may be a different interpretation than the one the media is assuming.