Poll Archive

Britain's Economy

Fieldwork: November 21st 2007

published by The Times

Click here to download detailed results 140k

If Britain's economy were to face problems in the months or years ahead, who would you most trust to deal with it in the best interests of Britain? [Change since September 17th shown in brackets]

	All	Men	Women	AB	C1	C2	DE	Con	Lab	LD
Brown & Darling	28% (-28%)	31% (-28%)	25% (-28%)	28% (-29%)	29% (-25%)	26% (-35%)	28% (-24%)	3% (-22%)	82% (-4%)	34% (-20%)
Cameron & Osborne	34% (+16%	39% (+16%)	29% (+15%)	45% (+28%)	34% (+15%)	30% (+12%)	26% (+7%)	83% (+23%)	2% (-3%)	21% (+9%)
Neither/Don't know	37% (+11%)	29% (+11%)	46% (+12%)	27% (+10%)	37% (+10%)	45% (+23%)	47% (+18%)	15% (-)	16% (+7%)	44% (+11%)
Net Brown & Darling	-6% (-44%)	-8% (-44%)	-4% (-43%)	-17% (-57%)	-5% (-40%)	-4% (-47%)	2% (-31%)	-80% (-45%)	80% (-1%)	13% (-29%)

	5-7 Sep	17-Sep	5-7 Oct	21-Nov
Brown & Darling	61%	56%	43%	28%
Cameron & Osborne	27%	18%	28%	34%
Neither/Don't know	12%	26%	29%	37%
Net Brown & Darling	34%	38%	15%	-6%

How optimistic or pessimistic you are about Britain's economy. Thinking about all the things that may affect the economy - such as changes in salaries and wages, the level of interest rates and tax, the rates of inflation and unemployment, and the strength of the pound – how do you think the British economy will fare over the next year a) for the country as a whole, and b) for you and your family? [Change since September 17th shown in brackets]

	Very well	Quite well	TOTAL WELL	Quite badly	Very badly	TOTAL badly	NET OPTIMISM
For the country as a whole	1% (-5%)	33% (-13%)	34% (-19%)	45% (+8%)	10% (+2%)	55% (+10%)	-21% (-29%)
For me & my family	1% (-9%)	32% (-19%)	33% (-28%)	42% (+16%)	11% (+4%)	53% (+19%)	-20% (-47%)

	Sep-03	Mar-04	Nov-04	Apr-05	Nov-05	Mar-07	Sep-07	Nov-07
Country as a Whole - Well	65%	64%	64%	77%	64%	56%	53%	34%
Country as a Whole - Badly	36%	29%	28%	19%	28%	36%	45%	55%
Country as a Whole - Net	29%	35%	36%	58%	36%	20%	8%	-21%
Me and Family - Well	65%	63%	63%	75%	63%	60%	61%	33%
Me and Family - Badly	35%	31%	28%	19%	28%	34%	34%	53%
Me and Family - Net	30%	32%	35%	56%	35%	26%	27%	-20%

Regardless of which party you would vote for, please say in each case whether you think each of the following words or phrases is true or not true of the Labour Party, the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats [Change since September 7th-9th shown in brackets]

Characteristics of the parties (% saying TRUE)	Labour	Conservative	Lib Dem
Has a good team of leaders	30% (-28%)	37% (+4%)	11% (-20%)
Understands the way people live their lives in today's Britain	29% (-19%)	32% (-3%)	33% (-7%)
Shares my values	20% (-24%)	33% (-5%)	24% (-17%)
Is honest and principled	20% (-17%)	26% (-8%)	30% (-16%)
Is competent and capable	26% (-30%)	33% (-6%)	14% (-22%)
Cares about the problems ordinary people have to deal with	28% (-19%)	33% (-5%)	38% (-10%)
Is for ordinary people, not just the best off	34% (-18%)	30% (-)	38% (-10%)
Is a united party	28% (-25%)	29% (-1%)	11% (-37%)

The Liberal Democrats

The Liberal Democrats are currently in the process of choosing a new leader to replace Ming Campbell, who resigned last month. The two candidates for leader are Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne. From what you have seen & heard of this contest so far, which of them do you think would be most likely to improve the party's prospects? If you have no opinion either way, or don't know enough about the candidates to have a view, please say so.

	All	Men	Women	Lib Dem voters	AB	C1	C2	DE
Chris Huhne	9%	14%	4%	15%	11%	12%	8%	4%
Nick Clegg	10%	13%	7%	19%	12%	9%	10%	8%
No opinion	24%	28%	20%	9%	26%	20%	26%	26%
Don't know enough to have a view	56%	44%	68%	54%	50%	58%	57%	57%

HM Revenue and Customs

Yesterday the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling announced that computer disks containing detailed personal and financial information on 25 million British people had gone missing, after being sent from HM Revenue & Customs to the National Audit Office via an unregistered mail service last month. The Chairman of HM Revenue & Customs has resigned as a result. Please answer the following questions.

The Conservatives have said that this incident calls into question “the basic competence of the government'. Do you agree or disagree with this view?

Should the Chancellor of the Exchequer resign, or be sacked, as a result of this incident – which he described as ‘a catastrophic error'.

	All	Men	Women	AB	C1	C2	DE	Lab	Con	LD
Yes, he should lose his job	44%	49%	39%	43%	33%	51%	51%	24%	61%	39%
No, he shouldn't lose his job	40%	42%	39%	47%	44%	35%	33%	62%	29%	47%
Don't know	15%	9%	21%	10%	22%	14%	14%	14%	10%	14%
Net 'should lose his job'	4%	7%	0%	-4%	-11%	16%	18%	-38%	32%	-8%

Do you think this was an unfortunate one-off incident or does it undermine your confidence in the government's general ability to handle other confidential data that is held by different departments and agencies?

	All	Men	Women	AB	C1	C2	DE	Lab	Con	LD
Unfortunate 'one-off'	18%	18%	18%	17%	21%	18%	17%	41%	7%	17%
Undermines confidence in govt. general handling of confidential data	73%	75%	70%	77%	69%	76%	70%	45%	91%	78%
Don't know	8%	6%	10%	6%	10%	5%	11%	13%	2%	4%
Net 'unfortunate one off'	-55%	-57%	-52%	-60%	-48%	-58%	-53%	-4%	-84%	-61%

Some people have said that this incident shows that the government cannot be trusted properly to protect and manage confidential information about people and therefore means that the plans to introduce ID cards must now be abandoned. Do you think that the government should go ahead with its plan for ID cards, or should the idea of introducing ID cards be dropped?

	All	Men	Women	AB	C1	C2	DE	Lab	Con	LD
Go ahead with ID cards	29%	33%	26%	30%	25%	34%	30%	50%	22%	22%
Scrap ID cards	55%	59%	52%	61%	54%	54%	52%	37%	68%	68%
Don't know	15%	8%	21%	9%	20%	11%	17%	11%	9%	11%
Net 'go ahead with ID cards'	-26%	-26%	-26%	-31%	-29%	-20%	-22%	13%	-46%	-46%

Some people have called for an urgent new law that would strengthen the security of data kept by government departments, agencies and businesses – for example by requiring encryption, not just password protection – and require organizations that lose information to inform immediately members of the public who are affected. Others have said that this is not a case where new laws are needed and that all the lessons arising from this incident could simply be dealt with by much better and more professional management processes for confidential data. Which of these is closer to your own view?

	All	Men	Women	AB	C1	C2	DE	Lab	Con	LD
A new law is needed	38%	37%	38%	32%	38%	40%	41%	37%	40%	36%
Improved management, not a new law is needed	56%	59%	53%	65%	54%	51%	54%	58%	57%	59%
Don't know	6%	3%	8%	3%	7%	9%	5%	4%	3%	5%
Net 'a new law is needed'	-18%	-22%	-15%	-33%	-16%	-11%	-13%	-21%	-17%	-23%

Populus interviewed a random sample of 1025 adults aged 18+ online on the 21st November 2007. Interviews were conducted across England and the results have been weighted to be representative of all English adults. Populus is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. For a full description of the methods we use, please click here.

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