Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair

The number of people of who believe the government’s cuts are unfair has nearly doubled since the election, polling data from YouGov shows, while there is also a big rise in those who believe the cuts are bad for the economy, and a slight increase in those likely to suffer from cuts in spending on frontline services. On the speed and severity of the cuts, meanwhile, significantly more people believe them to be too deep and too quick than too shallow and too slow.

False Economy report today:

Fairness: “Immediately after the election only one in three said they were unfair. Now that has gone to almost two in three. That is a big shift.”

Unfairness-of-the-cuts-poll-07-03-11

Impact on frontline services: “YouGov ask whether you are likely to ‘suffer directly from cuts in spending on public services such as health, education and welfare’. This seems a pretty fair definition of frontline services.

“…ministers have never won this argument. From the word go around 70 per cent have expected to suffer from the cuts. It’s increased a little perhaps, but it has been remarkably consistent.”

Impact on economy: “The government message is that cutting public spending gives room to the private sector to drive an export-led recovery.

“This chart reports those who say that the cuts are bad for the economy. It was about one in three before the election, but is now over half. It’s not quite as dramatic as the shift in fairness, but is still a big shift.”

Impact-of-the-cuts-on-the-economy-poll-07-03-11
On the speed and severity of the cuts, though a majority believe them to be necessary (by 55%-33%), 50% believe them to be too deep, with only 6% thinking they are too shallow and 27% saying they are about right, and 58% believe them to be taking place too quickly, against only 5% who say they are being done too slowly, and 26% who say they are about right.

At the turn of the year, Sunder Katwala wrote about how the government had lost the fairness argument, citing YouGov data on the net fairness rating of the cuts since June which showed a steady downward trend. Today’s figures provide further evidence for that claim.

http://twitter.com/manishtasunnia/status/44797224131117056 manishta sunnia

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/isdancing/status/44797266132860928 Mabel Horrocks

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/simonbarrow/status/44797433405902849 Simon Barrow

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/jodatu/status/44797510232977410 John Turner

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/dis_ppl_protest/status/44799952890769409 DisabledPeople

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/falseecon/status/44800421209964544 False Economy

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair http://bit.ly/gnSyno by @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/oldmankelv/status/44800541963988992 Kelvin John Edge

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/oldmankelv/status/44802597017751552 Kelvin John Edge

RT @FalseEcon: RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair http://bit.ly/gnSyno by @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/brib49/status/44802638906277889 Brian Barefield

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/edianticuts/status/44803012094476288 EDI Anti-Cuts

RT @FalseEcon: RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair http://bit.ly/gnSyno by @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/debsalini/status/44803367393959936 Deborah Segalini

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/oranjd/status/44813010660892672 James Doran

Tories lost fairness argument on cuts, losing economic stimulus argument… http://bit.ly/edFeEG
http://twitter.com/johnty85/status/44829871033159680 John Cartmell

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
http://twitter.com/slintottuk/status/44837692097314816 Stephen Lintott

RT @leftfootfwd: Big increase since election in those saying cuts are unfair: http://bit.ly/gnSyno reports @ShamikDas #FalseEconomy
Mr. Sensible

I think the public is beginning to lose pasience with government ministers talking about the “need” for these cuts.
Anon E Mouse

Mr.Sensible – Where do you get that idea from? Stop making things up please – it does you no favours.

Read the article: “On the speed and severity of the cuts, though a majority believe them to be necessary (by 55%-33%)”… that’s the important bit – the fact that a MAJORITY believe they are necessary.

That’s what will finish Labour and the deficit deniers at the next election when all the childish scaremongering has been shown to be just waffle and the world hasn’t collapsed.

Until Labour faces up to what it has done to this country financially no one will ever elect them again – look at Gordon Browns favourite PM – Maggie Thatcher and the way she swept back into power last time despite the unpopular cuts program.

Since we are now paying interest on the debt of £120million a day where is that money going to come from?
Liz McShane

Anon – are you conveniently forgetting that there was a major global financial crisis which was not Labour’s fault? It is a shame that the public sector seems to be getting the blame for this when it was global finance meltdown.
RedfishUK

Anon, you are ignoring the fact that the labour Party has consitantly said the deficit needs to be cut. That the expansion of the deficit was a response to keep the economy growing in 2008 onwards. You only need to look at what is happening now to see that was right.
At the general election, both Labour and the Lib Dems campaigned to cut the deficit by half in Labours case over the next parliament. I’m not sure what the exact promise was by the Lib Dems but they didn’t believe it themselves and didn’t stick to it anyway. Only the Tories are hell bent on cutting it by 100% in 4/5 years, and I doubt very much they will achieve this as growth will be too low.

So looking at the figures 55% believe the deficit should be cut, but 50%think the Tory plans are too fast – so 50% are presumably happier with Labours plans, while 65% feel the Tories are implementing them unfairly. Hardly a rining endorsement for the Tories or an rejection of the Labour Party’s policy.

Comparison with 1980/81 is interesting. Thatcher despite her famous soundbite did a huge U-Turn. Monetarism was dropped, the economy was re-inflated with Oil money before the general election in 1983. This coupled with the Split in the Labour /SDP vote and the Falklands War factor.
I can’t see any of the above being available to Cameron.
Anon E Mouse

Liz – I am just remembering that since 2001 the books never balanced and the bill for the public sector has an awful lot to do with that.

My main criticism is that gullible people believed Gordon Brown had ended “Boom and Bust” and all that other nonsense he constantly spouted and they went out and overspent on so called value that didn’t really exist in their house values. Plasma TV’s and foreign holidays were the norm and just increased the bubble that had to burst.

Couple that with the minimum wage (which I support) and the Labour open door policy to predominantly Labour supporters with immigration and suddenly the Polish plumber does the job for £5/hour instead of £20 and how does the government respond?

Gordon Brown claims he is offering “British jobs for British workers”, not legal under EU law and basically a pack of lies.

The only man who knows the truth in the Labour Party is Alistair Darling and when he is interviewed by the BBC the result is Brown and the other bullies and thugs (like Damian McBride) he employs in Downing Street turn on him as he describes it “The forces of hell”.

For telling the truth Liz. Nice.

No one is blaming the public sector but where else do we save the money? Presently we are paying a fortune in interest – do you want us to end up like Ireland?

And regarding blaming the “Global Economic Crisis” that’s usual. Labour always blame someone else Liz and without exception they have never left office with the countries finances better or employment lower than when they started. This country needs New New Labour and it won’t get it without David Miliband at the helm…
Anon E Mouse

RedfishUK – Agree completely with Thatcher claiming to be cutting but not really…
http://twitter.com/1cheerfulman/status/45504562664189952 Larry Gardiner

Cuts unfair: more people see this now http://fb.me/O8WIw9fp