Britain is poorer than people think
- New polling shows that growth still matters to the British public
- Britons know something has gone badly wrong – they just need to see how far we’ve fallen
- The public want prosperity, not excuses
But have no doubt: the British public still dreams of a more prosperous society.
An expansive new public opinion research project, published by the Institute of Economic Affairs and undertaken by Freshwater Strategy, highlights that despite widespread pessimism, few have given up. When asked whether the UK should focus more on growth, an overwhelming 87% agree, compared to just 9% who say the country is already wealthy enough. This view cuts across the usual political divides, with strong support across genders, age groups, educational levels and regions. We may have a more divided politics than at any time in modern history, but there’s at least one thing pretty much everyone agrees on: growth.
7 comments:
Do we have lots of potholes? Yes. Proof under our wheels that Britain cannot afford nice things.
Yes, I realise it's a silly argument but mundane things, like the punctuality of the trains, was offered as German 'wealth'.
DJ - I don't see it as a silly argument at all. Potholes and crumbling roads are what we observe along with high taxes, the price of domestic electricity and new houses which are often smaller and have less land than the nineteenth century terraced house our grandparents lived in.
It's only relative to other countries of course, but it tells us that we are not governed competently or we are governed to covert ideological standards which are lower than is ever admitted.
If as a people, the British want economic growth, they've got a funny way of going about it - that's all I can say.
0.1% is a rounding error. I say we have been at least flat lining for the last year.
I work in construction which is most definitely in a recession which is always a pointer to the general economy.
Nobody will invest in a country run by this bunch of fools.
Tammy - yes and a funny way of voting for it.
Mike - I agree, 0.1% is a rounding error. We could be flatlining or going downhill, that 0.1% doesn't exclude either.
What you say about construction is interesting because we don't see much going on apart from roadworks. Near to us a new supermarket has just been completed after the work stopped for months because the original construction firm went bankrupt part way through the project.
The country has been drifting along spending beyond our means for years. It will take a generation and a lot of upheaval to get the place in order even if we found some politicians capable of the job and brave enough to make useful decisions.
Woodsy - I agree, we have declined to far to turn it around without a lot of upheaval.
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