Much of the British public backs Prime Minister David Cameron’s controversial comments made during his visit to Turkey and India last week, a recent poll for the Sun newspaper has found.
Just under half (49%) believe that David Cameron ‘was being plain speaking’ in his criticism towards the Israeli government’s policy in the Gaza strip and Pakistan’s alleged links with terrorist organisations, compared to 27% who felt he was being ‘a loudmouth’.
The PM’s comments, which referred to the blockaded Gaza strip as ‘a prison camp’ and condemned Pakistan’s promotion of ‘the export of terror’, enjoy particularly high levels of support amongst the 60+ age category with 60% in support versus only 36% among 18-24 year-olds.
Referring to the statements made in India, a senior Pakistani official speaking for President Asif Ali Zardari said that ‘the comments smacked of inexperience’ and showed Cameron needed to be ‘more forthright in supporting [Pakistani] democracy.’ However, hopes remain high that the row will be diffused at the ‘summit showdown’ meeting set to take place at Chequers on Friday.
Unsurprisingly, though, the main criticism in Britain emerges from the Labour camp, with 61% calling David Cameron a ‘loudmouth’ who ‘risks damaging relations with British allies like Israel and Pakistan’. Only 18% of Labour supporters felt that ‘other countries would respect’ Cameron’s comments, compared to 81% of Conservative supporters and 62% of Lib Dems.
