POLITICAL PERCEPTIONS OF POVERTY
A new survey has revealed an alarming difference in left- and right-wing attitudes towards poverty
UK Labour supporters are far more likely to believe there is a lot of poverty in Britain than Conservatives.
That is according to the latest figures from the British Social Attitudes Survey - an annual survey that asks people what it's like to live in Britain and how they think the country is run.
The new figures - for 2018 - reveal that nearly three in every four Labour supporters (73 per cent) agree there is “a lot” of poverty in Britain.
That is up from 55 per cent who felt this way when the question was first asked in 2006.
Barely half of Conservatives (51 per cent) in the 2018 survey felt there was a
lot of poverty in Britain compared with 46 per cent in 2006.
It indicates Labour Party demands for action on poverty resonate with their voters.
The survey also revealed that seven in every 10 Labour followers in 2018 felt poverty had increased over the past decade.
Just 49 per cent of Conservatives agreed.
The report found that: “The substantial changes we have seen in attitudes to poverty and inequality over the past decade can largely, though not entirely, be attributed to the evolving views of Labour Party supporters, reflecting the shifting discourse of their party.”
In late 2018, Labour leader Jeremy Cobyn wrote to the then Prime Minister Theresa May and described the country's poverty levels as a “national emergency”.
The situation in the UK even led Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty to state at the end of 2018 that: “The country's most respected charitable groups, its leading think tanks, its parliamentary committees, independent authorities like the National Audit Office and many others have all drawn attention to the dramatic decline in the fortunes of the least well-off in this country.”
Respondents were asked whether they thought poverty would increase, decrease or remain stable over the next decade.
More than twothirds of Labour supporters (69 per cent) said it would increase, compared to
47 per cent of Conservatives.
A government spokesperson said: "Tackling poverty will always be a priority for this government.
“We want to build on our progress to ensure every family can thrive.
“That's why we've raised the personal allowance to take 1.74 million of the lowest paid out of income tax altogether and increased the National Living Wage to provide the biggest pay rise for low paid workers in 20 years, while we continue to spend £95 billion a year on working-age welfare. "Work offers the best route out of poverty and we've got record numbers in employment. “Universal Credit allows those most in need to receive personalised support into employment."