The Cameron / Clegg coalition has retained its high approval ratings into the second week of the historic government, but a VAT hike predicted to appear in next month’s budget is unpopular, a survey for the Sun has shown. Over half (54%) of the population approve of a coalition government with David Cameron as Prime Minister and Nick Clegg as his deputy, compared to 39% who disapprove to some extent. 7% did not know.
A majority of the population also agree with the Liberal Conservative coalition’s plans to make a reported £6 billion in spending cuts this year to reduce the budget deficit. 55% believe that cuts of this scale are necessary in order to reduce the country’s deficit, while 34% disagree, affirming that either they can be delayed until next year (28%), or are not necessary at all (6%).
However, approval for the coalition wanes when we look at how exactly they might make these savings. A VAT tax rise to 20%, which the Conservatives have long refused to rule out, seems to be particularly unpopular. Over a third of the population (36%) strongly oppose an increase in VAT, and a further 27% tend to oppose such an increase. Less than a third (31%) support an increase in VAT to some degree and 6% did not know how they felt.
With the Liberal Conservatives coalition remaining popular, and their general policy for emergency price cuts having support, it will be interesting to see whether their popularity is affected if potentially unpopular reform, such as a VAT increase, is introduced in next month’s emergency budget.
