More cuts polling
Unison commisioned some interesting poll questions from YouGov in the run up to last Saturday’s March (and kindly ‘donated’ one about support for the march to the TUC, which has popped up in the media sevaral times since.)
The questions give respondents the opportunity to choose betwen the kind of argument we would put and on the government would put. That can be a good polling technique as it means that youy are not trying to devise a neutral non-leading question, but giving people the choice between two clearly partial statements.
| Sample Size: 2720 UK Adults | ||||
| Fieldwork: 20th – 21st March 2011 | ||||
| % | % | % | % | |
| David Cameron has launched his “Big Society” drive, a plan to give more power to local communities and encourage a culture of volunteering by allowing charities and voluntary groups to take over the running of some public services. Some people have criticised the proposals as being a smokescreen for public spending cuts. Which of the following statements best reflects your view? | Total | Con | Lab | Lib Dem |
| The Big Society is genuinely about trying to encourage people to volunteer and give more power to local people, but may also help cut the government’s deficit | 21 | 52 | 4 | 29 |
| The Big Society isn’t really about encouraging volunteers or devolving power, it is just a way of cutting the money spent on public services | 59 | 28 | 83 | 51 |
| Thinking about the way the Government is cutting public spending to reduce the budget deficit… | Total | Con | Lab | Lib Dem |
| Do you think…? | ||||
| It is right to cut public spending to the extent that they are, so Britain’s economy can recover | 33 | 76 | 5 | 50 |
| It is wrong to cut public spending to the extent that they are, as it could drive Britain back into recession | 56 | 16 | 90 | 38 |
| Which of the following statements do you agree with more? | Total | Con | Lab | Lib Dem |
| If the government taxed banks and bankers bonuses more than they currently do, they could avoid making some of the cuts to public spending | 68 | 51 | 81 | 64 |
| The government has already taxed the banks and bankers bonuses by as much as they can without the risk that major banks and bankers would relocate abroad – there is no alternative but to cut spending | 16 | 35 | 6 | 19 |
| Some people and companies can legally avoid paying some taxes because of the ‘loop holes’ which exist in the tax system. Some say that the Government should close the loop holes in the tax system to ensure that companies and individuals pay more tax. Others say that closing the loop holes will effectively mean a tax increase on some individuals and companies which may reduce the amount of economic investment in Britain and threaten the economic recovery. | Total | Con | Lab | Lib Dem |
| Do you think the Government should or should not close the tax loop holes? | ||||
| The Government should close the tax loopholes | 79 | 80 | 84 | 82 |
| The Government should not close the tax loopholes | 8 | 11 | 6 | 8 |
Tax Research UK » 79% of people think the government should act to close tax loopholes
Mar 31st 2011, 9:54 am
[…] The following data comes from polling done last week by Unison and reported yesterday by the TUC: […]