Good Lord! Our trust in priests has fallen to its lowest level

TRUST in priests has fallen to its lowest ever level, say researchers.

Just two-thirds of us trust senior clerics to tell the truth, compared with a high of around 85 per cent in 1983, when the first such poll was conducted.

Nurses remained the most trusted profession, with 94 per cent of us believing they tell the truth, followed by doctors (91 per cent).

The survey, part of a long-running series by Ipsos Mori, found that politicians remained the least trusted of any group, with just 17 per cent of respondents saying they could believe them. However, a second survey following the wave of sexual harassment allegations in Parlia- ment suggested public opinion was largely unaffected, with 20 per cent saying they trusted politicians.

The survey found that trust in the police was at its highest, with around three quarters saying they felt they could be trusted – a rise of 13 per cent on the 1983 poll. A similar proportion, 76 per cent, confirmed their trust in weather forecasters – included for the first time.

Professional footballers were another addition but they fared less well, with only a quarter of respondents having confidence in them – a similar level of public trust as estate agents.

Gideon Skinner of Ipsos MORI said the results showed there have been some ‘notable movers’ since the first survey.

He said: ‘The clergy are the most notable losers.

‘But not everything changes – doctors, nurses and teachers have consistently been near the top, and politicians and journalists down the bottom.’

‘The most notable losers’