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According to a new survey, the clear majority of labor voters believe that social security expenditure is more important than increasing the budget of the United Kingdom defense, emphasizing the political challenge facing Sir Keira Starmer when it is a rearm.
Exclusive vote made before Wednesday Spring statement He also revealed that voters of all parties thought that the government could increase expenditures in reducing taxes.
Although voters have accepted that the government's ability to increase borrowings, made jointly, and the public first showed that they did not accept that compromises were needed to arrange again.
Where should the money come from?
The survey also showed that Starmer had already pulled two of the four main levers – reduced overseas assistance and increasing taxes from enterprises – that most voters considered it acceptable to pay for higher defense spending.
Two other areas that voters agreed could be reduced to increase the defense budget, investments in renewable energy and public transport – two policies that Chancellor Rachel Reeves said is essential for laboratory plans to revive the economy.
In recent weeks, the work has been extended by internal divisions over Starmer's decision to increase defense spending to 2.5 % of GDP by reducing overseas assistance budget and at the same time announcing measures Reduce the British spiral -shaped annual well -being law by £ 5 billion a year.
Robert Ford, a professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said that the public's approach to “cake-and-it-it” to tax and expenditure issues has created a big problem for the government, especially because it has increasingly deposited cuts through WhiteHall.
“The fact that the public believes in the” tree of magic money “is a benefit to the opposition-it can trigger it all the time when the government deposits cuts-but it is a mill for a government that is forced to admit that compromises exist.”
On Monday, Starmer told the BBC Radio 5 Live that he hoped that the greater use of artificial intelligence and technology would allow the government to find savings that would release fiscal space for the Labour priorities.
The Prime Minister stated that his government had made a “record investment” by last year's budget with more money coming to the National Health Service.
“But … One of the areas we look at is, can we drive the government more effectively? Can we take some money from the government? And I think we can,” he said.
“I think we basically ask businesses across the country to be more efficient, looking at artificial intelligence and technology as they do business. I want the same challenge in the government, which means why should we not be more effective?”
Stonehaven, Peter Lyburn, said the questioning has shown that the public sentiment lags behind the fact that politicians and business leaders are currently claiming a “renewal moment” for Europe.
“Investors and governments who think the moment have come to understand where voters are, otherwise those who are in a hurry to re -arm or build energy and transport infrastructure can get well,” he added.
Pivot to Europe?
Election, made between 11 and 15 March, also showed sentiments apparently hardening against the US.
It has been found that more than a third of the British voters would prefer the EU as weapons suppliers, compared to less than a quarter of voters that America is a more favorable partner.
In a potential symptom, views on the value of the transatlantic alliance quickly moved, and British voters were also strongly in favor of the “cross -armed forces” despite the years of conservative and right -wing warnings of the “euro army”.
In particular, France was considered more likely than the US to provide military assistance if the United Kingdom was attacked by a terrorist group-long-term US defensive ties with Great Britain, including subscriptions of the British nuclear discharge.
Trump trap?
Political debate in the UK about whether to spend more on defense and in accordance with the US or EU is clearly distributed along the party lines, with conservative and reform voters prefer to hold near Washington.
But while Starmer tried to go through a diplomatic rope with Trump's administration over how to bring peace to Ukraine and Avoid trade rollersVoters of all parties have a pure negative look at the US President Donald Trump.
Even among the reform voters whose leader Nigel Farage is a loud supporter of Trump, less than half said they had a positive view of the US President compared to a third of the conservatives and a quarter of the voters.
Ford of Manchester University said voters generally low view of Trump posed political risks to Farage and Conservatives who coped with the Republican movement Maga in the US.
“The problem is that their attachment to Trump is not shared by most of their voters, or more importantly, voters trying to win from other parties. Trump hug is a way to reduce their voice.”
