Half the British public are worried that the economic situation in Greece may spill over to the UK and fear a comparable crisis may occur in the country. 50% of British adults claim to be ‘worried’ about the odds of a similar economic situation hitting the UK, with 41% of these saying they are ‘fairly worried’. Nine percent claim to be ‘very worried’.
This comes in the wake of riots in Greece, mounted by the angry population in protest at the spending cuts planned by the government to help wrest the nation’s crippled economy out of debt. After three people were killed in the unrest at the beginning of this month, President Karolos Papoulias warned the country was "on the brink of the abyss". Indeed, such spending reductions are just another instalment in the disastrous saga, which has seen the unprecedented bailout of Greece by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Eurozone countries, notably Germany.
While Britain remains outside of the Euro, commentators have not ruled out its being affected by the economic crisis, which may yet spread to Spain and Portugal. Figures across the world have stated the need for caution; even United States President Barack Obama has said he is “very concerned”.
However, despite such levels of anxiety, it seems nearly as many are unconcerned by Britain’s impending situation. 45% of Brits say they are not worried about the possibility of Britain facing a similar crisis to Greece, with most of these (38%) saying they are ‘not very worried’.
It seems that the long-term consequences of Greece’s economic implosion may have yet to be felt – at least where the pound sterling is concerned.
